Plotbunnys
by catsvrsdogscatswin
Summary: Its happened again! I had an idea, and it just wouldn't go away...this'll be my published plotbunny thing. Fair warning, I have no intention of publishing these stories as their own any time soon, at least until after I finish my other stuff. That's my Soul Eater story, and it is almost done. Tell me which one you wanna see continued!
1. Ochi

_**Dark Woods Circus, Hellsing style. That's about all this story can be summed up by. God decided I wasn't having enough problems trying to scrape up inspiration for both Meva's story and my Soul Eater, so he hit me with a thunderbolt of inspiration a few weeks ago. This is included because I have mostly lost inspiration for my first story, so I might find it hard to get back to it. If you've read/seen Black Butler, her eyes are just like Ciel Phantomhive's binding eye with the pentacle, only orange and on both. All the others mentioned do have their own "powers" as well, but I'm explaining that later on. (if there is a later on)**_

_Ochi's POV:_

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! The one, the only, Dark Woods Circus! See wonders only known to those who stalk the woods in the dead of night, in the dark old woods! You will be amazed!" the Ringmaster called, and I scowled, shifting my blindfold. I hated this part of my "job". I heard my cue and stepped out, automatically sensing how many people were in the tent, and frowned. Barely a hundred. That did not bode well for us. My eyes, hidden behind the fabric, darted around, taking in each of their traits, faults, and fears. I blinked, my eyes watering. Scarcely better than the crowd every day, working class, not very…scrupulous. Then again, they wouldn't have been here if they were. "See, Ochi! Dare to gaze into her eyes! Not one man has done so yet and not screamed in terror! She has put many into hospitals around the entire globe!"

Knowing I would get some punches later if I didn't, I bowed deeply, wearing a falsely bright smile. The Ringmaster baited the crowd a bit more, and I waited, resigned to my newest victim. A man came up, puffing out his chest and waiting impatiently as the Ringmaster told me to remove my blindfold. I untied it, opening my eyes and staring straight into the eyes of my victim. His own eyes widened, and sweat started running down his face. I could feel his terror, building and building, and waited, seeing the beginnings of a scream starting to form in his throat. I sighed, quietly, as he screamed, piercingly, collapsing on the ground and writhing in pain, and as I turned the entire crowd shielded their gaze, worrying that they too would fall prey to my merciless eyes.

I put my blindfold back on, walking back to the dressing room, and untying it again. I looked in the mirror, wincing at the sound of the still screaming man. I was young, with a neat, heart shaped face and full mouth, but anyone with half an eye could see I was no sweetheart. My face was hard and cold, no laughing or smiling lines, and pain etched deeply into my forehead. My eyes were the only part of me that was unruined "beauty". Bright, molten copper irises, with huge, dilated pupils. Light didn't bother me, because inside the pupils were pentagrams, two orange, glowing, pentagrams, neatly filling the pupil. I pushed my reddish hair away from my face, scowling. It softened when I saw Laka come in with me, crying. "Laka, what's wrong?" I asked, kneeling and holding her hand. "T-the people b-booed me! I'll b-be b-beaten!" I growled. That was the rule. Put on a good show, and heaven help you if the crowd didn't like it.

I had a deep, deep dislike for the crowd. People who didn't even know our names, watching impartially, booing if a child trying his or her best didn't fit their fickle mood. With one shout of disapproval, they made our lives a misery. Yes, I was not a big fan of the crowd. "Hush Laka. Ochi will make it better!" I said soothingly, and she sniffled, wiping her eyes. "H-how?" she whined. I bit my lip. I had put this off as long as possible, but Laka was our only hope. "Laka, you need to run. Run far away, and ask the authorities for help. Anyone with Sir or a fancy car. Tell them you need to talk to the police, then tell them our location. Go." She nodded, blurring, and a wind passed through the tent as she ran, faster than even my eyes could see.

_***Time Skip***_

"WHERE IS SHE!?" The Ringmaster roared, cracking his whip at us. We remained silent, even though most of them knew she was gone. "Who helped her escape!?" He snarled, clenching his fists. They all coughed and shuffled their feet, refusing to tell him or meet my gaze. I was usually the one who took the brunt of such rages, for them, and we all knew I was proud of that. "Ochi, was this another of your little schemes? Running from me, who feeds and clothes you, who hides your deformities from the world?" I boldly stared him down, not saying anything. "Leave Ochi alone! I did it, okay!" Larsh said, stepping forward. _Larsh, you damn idiot!_ I thought at him frantically, stepping in front of him. "No, he didn't. Laka escaped because of me." I said firmly, blinking and waiting for my punishment.

He growled. "Everyone, go back to your wagons. I will get to the bottom of this." All the other acts quickly field past, guilty relief that it wasn't them seeping from every pore. "Larsh, Ochi, I have a problem." The Ringmaster said wearily, holding his head in his hands. "Neither of you seem to be telling the truth, but neither are you lying. I have a conundrum. Do I punish one? Or the other? Or…_both_." Larsh whimpered and I groped for his hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "Larsh, since you are so defensive of her, you will look at Ochi's eyes. Her pretty, pretty eyes. Ochi, blast him." Larsh wailed, facing me and cracking his eyes open. I sighed, and opened both eyes, staring at him unblinkingly. I tried to limit as much of the damage as I could, but he fell to the ground, screaming and writhing all the same.

The Ringmaster had him dragged out, and tapped a foot. "The usual, Ochi." I bowed my head, letting him hit my back again and again with his whip, and occasionally kick my legs out from under me, slamming my head into the hard ground. He grew tired and I was dragged out as well, being thrown into my cramped little wagon. I curled up, hissing as my newly opened weals dripped blood down my back, and peered out through my tiny barred window. The stars were shining over London, and I smirked to myself and slid back down, cranking my music box. "_My eyes ripped out as I wail-_" I sang softly, nodding to the music's lilting rhythm. "-_thrown into an old wooden pail-_" I gasped a little as my wounds stung, but still sang. "-_the power bound all snug and tight, to those who see drop dead with fright."_ I heard Larsh and the others weeping softly, but didn't join in. "_I ask them why and they tell me so-_" I sighed, wondering where Laka was and if she had found help. "_-for fame, glory, and fortune you know!_"

_Laka's POV:_

I scampered through the crowd, frantically searching for a police officer or a _Sir_. But there was no one. I saw a woman with a yellow uniform and tried to walk over to her at a normal pace, and slammed into her. "Please Mrs. I need help!" I begged her, standing up. She stood, and looked at me blankly. "Please…" I begged, my eyes watering. She opened her mouth, but a voice called out "Seras! What's taking you so long?" Mrs. Seras blinked, turning away from me. "Coming Sir Integra!" She called, walking away. "Wait! Please! My friends need help!" I cried, grabbing her arm. "Dark Woods Circus! Dark Woods Circus!" I wailed, and she shook me off, running away. Everyone was now looking at me strangly, and moved away. I sobbed, trying to think up something to do next, but before I could I heard a familiar voice. "Come my dear. The circus is waiting."

_Integra's POV:_

Seras scampered up, looking confused. "Why are we in a strange place like this?" She asked, looking at the low class slum around us. "There's a circus of reported freaks that needs elimination. We're here to find it." She gulped. "Uh, Dark Woods Circus?" she said sheepishly, and I frowned. "The actual name is unknown. Why?" She blushed. "Um, this kid came up to me and babbled something to that effect." She said slowly, and I sighed. "Seras…go get her." I said wearily, and she walked off. I sat in the cab we had rented, and about ten minutes later she came back, alone. "She's gone." She said in frustration. I growled. The first possible lead, gone. "Well, keep an eye out for her." I said firmly, sitting back as we moved to the next location.

_Ochi's POV:_

I sang to Laka softly, stroking her hair. The men Ringmaster had sent after her hadn't been gentle. "_Hush now, the pain isn't real; these bleeding wounds aren't what you feel. Hush now, I'll make you a deal. Remember mom, remember dad? Remember all the good times that you had? They are real…_" She whimpered softly as I crooned to her, settling down and relaxing. "This has to stop." Larsh croaked, avoiding looking at me. "We can't just sit here and take it much more." Kasai said grumpily, rubbing her black eye. "Because you all take _so_ much more than me." I said quietly, rocking Laka. They all winced and looked away. I smirked to myself silently and then said "And how do you guys propose we go about this?" Larsh coughed. "Um, you? We lead a mutiny and you're our backup?"

I sighed. "Stupid idea, a hundred ways it could fail…when do we start?" I said, grinning. "Right now." Kasai said smugly, and we all waited, hearing a scream. I left Laka lying on the ground and raced over with the others, seeing the tent in flames. Kasai grinned and fanned them away from us as I stepped in, surveying the damage. Everyone, all of the "acts" were gathered around a central point Kasai had probably cleared for safety. Kasai and Larsh raced for it, me a scant step behind him. Suddenly the air was choked out of my lungs and I felt a cold blade shoved in my ribs. "Now, now children. Let's play nice." The Ringmaster said smoothly, grabbing and yanking on my hair. I hissed, wiggling in his grasp, but he had me good. "Ochi, blast them or you die."

The others gasped, shielding their eyes, but mine remained closed. "Fine then. Kill me." I said flatly, and he growled. "Not yet. You're the one who's always trying to bring me down, I'll kill you slowly and painfully for that." He snarled, and I gasped as he jerked on my hair again. The others shifted uncomfortably as the flames roared higher and higher. "Ochi…" Kasai said weakly, reaching out for me. I began speaking in our code language. "_Guys, this is the Ringmaster. People like him have one motivation, their life, or their fortune. I am his fortune, but will he get away with his life? Force his hand._" He yanked my hair viciously. "Speak English you little brat!" "_Go on, make him pick. His fortune, or his life._" I urged them, and I heard a yell from behind me. "Kuton! Kuton! Kuton! Kuton! Kuton! Kuton!" Laka snarled, slamming into us and kicking the ringmaster repeatedly. _Fortune, fortune, fortune, fortune._

The Ringmaster dropped me, coughing, and I flopped limply to the ground. "You little-" he shouted, grabbing her, but he was stopped by a hand in the scruff of his shirt. "Ringmaster, what was it you always said?" I asked him, bringing his face close to mine. He whimpered, eyes rolling desperately, clawing at my arms in an attempt to make me let go. "Oh yes, eliminate what you do not need. Well, I think, perhaps, that we do not need you anymore. In fact, I don't think we ever did." I snarled, shaking him. "So…" I felt my eyes start to warm up, and a golden glow shot out of the pentacles. "Let's eliminate you." I screamed, widening my eyes so much that they hurt. He crumpled, eyes rolling wildly, gasping and writhing as my spell worked inside his mind. He screamed, again and again, loud, high pitched screams, and I threw him into a burning post. He writhed, yelling incoherently, and I stepped inside the safe zone with the others. "C'mon guys." I said, shoulder a backpack. "Let's go find a home."

_***Time Skip***_

We collapsed in the corpse of trees, panting. Kasai grabbed a water bottle, gulping it down desperately. I slid my back against the tree, assessing everyone else's condition. "You guys get some sleep. I'll stand guard." I said firmly, and they all sighed in relief and rolled out their sleeping bags, asleep and snoring in seconds. I sat, pulling out my music box and twirling the cogs. Erie, lilting music drifted out. "_My eyes ripped out as I wail, thrown into an old wooden pail-_" I sang softly, humming to myself. "-_the power bound all snug and tight, to those who see drop dead with fright_." The music tinkled eerily, like a circus pipe organ. "_I ask them why and they tell me so, for money, fame, and fortune you know!_" A snap in the woods ahead of me made me look up, silently thanking the fact I had blindfolded myself again. Small animals didn't stand a chance, even when I wasn't trying to. Anything less intelligent and smaller than a human was not safe from my unbound eyes. A man with a gun stepped into the dying firelight, aiming it straight at me.

_Seras's POV:_

I blinked, hearing Sir Integra call for me. "Intruders on the grounds, you and the mercenaries can take care of this." She said impatiently, and I nodded, swinging the Harkonnen onto my shoulders as I followed Pip and the others out. I heard a soft female voice singing as we neared a campfire's glow, and paused for a moment. "-_out as I wail, thrown into an old wooden pail, the power bound all snug and tight, to those who see drop dead with fright. I ask them why and they tell me so, for money, fame and fortune you know!_" she sang to an eerie haunting tune, and I shuddered. Captain Pip stepped out, and a young girl scrambled to her feet. There was a blindfold across her eyes, and I wondered how on earth she knew he was there. "Go away! Leave us be!" She snapped, throwing out her arms, as if to shelter the sleeping forms behind her. "You are trespassing on private property. Leave at once." Pip said in a bored voice, and she scowled.

"We aren't harming anyone or anything. Let us sleep and go away!" she barked, as if she was the one threatening us. He sighed. "Girl, as a piece of advice, move on. The people here don't play nice, it's not worth it." He said warningly, and she laughed. "I don't play nice either. Begone, and I won't blast you." Pip scowled, hoisting his gun. "No tricks now." The girl giggled. "I see then. I'll try not to hit you _too_ hard, but I did warn you." She said, lifting up her hands slowly and untying her blindfold. It dropped to the ground, and Pip swore, backing away. I gaped silently at her, those bright orange eyes with those glowing pentacles. "Sorry. Fight your way out and you should be fine." She said, pentacles starting to glow yellow. I staggered, the world around me suddenly all glowing bright lines, my head spinning. She appeared before me. "A vampire? Cool, you should be free much faster than the others." I brought the Harkonnen up. "Prepare to die, freak."

She laughed. "I'd drop that if I were you, you might hit your friends. They're all on the ground, sad to say." I quickly lowered it. "What did you do to us?" I asked, falling to my knees as the light flared and shrunk, making my head hurt even more. She giggled. "Aw, didn't you hear me? _My eyes ripped_ _out as I wail_" She tapped the side of her head, still smirking._ "-thrown into an old wooden pail, the power bound all snug and tight, to those who see drop dead with fright._" The pentacles flashed bright yellow, and I lowered my head to the ground, feeling like it might burst from pain. "_I ask them why and they tell me so, for money, fame and fortune you know!_" she said, disappearing. Her voice drifted back to me as I curled up in a ball, whimpering. "Really sorry, but you heard my song. You should have been more on guard. Bye and try not to die, or go insane."

_Ochi's POV:_

I tied my blindfold back on as the vampiress collapsed, moaning and whimpering. At least, that's what she sounded like through the screams of the humans curled up around her, bucking and twisting in pain. I had tried to be gentle, but force was needed to put them all down, especially her. They should wake up in a couple days, or hours at the very least, alive. Whether some of the weaker ones emerged _sane_ was kinda hard to tell. I whistled sharply and the others all bolted upright, drawing small knives from various places, but sheathed them again when they saw the bodies. "I went for minimum damage, so they'll probably be up soon." I said, rolling up my sleeping bag and packing my things. The others nodded and packed up as well, and I erased any particular traces that might be useful, like how many of us there had been, and how old we were.

Now all the trackers would know is what they had been told, and that I was a master trail hider as well. I took tail as the others ran, making sure the same signs were hidden until we crossed a river, and we waded downstream, remembering to avoid anything that might leave a scent. "Hey, Ochi, aren't you being just a little bit _too_ careful? It's not like they have dogs." Larsh panted, and I shook my head. "They had a vampire; I'm taking _no_ chances she'll find us. Who knows what something like that could do?" Being of different nationalities, we all disagreed on certain points in the mythology, but right away we all knew my caution was not unfounded. Being circus freaks, and the circus freaks that we were, we didn't dispute the existence of most things, given enough proof, and me seeing a vampire was certainly enough.

We crossed to the other side of the stream, some of the others starting to make or bless crosses, which made me roll my eyes. Hastily spun as these protections were, they might as well be cobwebs before the vampire's wrath, as wrathful she would certainly be after recovering. I had no idea how much ground she could cover or how fast she would awaken, so we had between a few hours or a day before I would relax even slightly. Now I was on full alert, switching to an eyepatch instead of the full blindfold, which wasn't enough to kill even the small animals on sight, but if I was focused it would definitely bring even a vampire to a full, grinding, and possibly fatal, halt. Larsh shuddered, and I put a hand on his shoulder. "It's not going to hurt you unless I will it." I said softly, and he nodded. "I know. It's just, sometimes you have that on so long that I forget about your eyes, and when you take it off-"

He made a helpless gesture to my ever so softly glowing orange eye. I nodded. "Yeah, and then I take it off." I said wearily, looking down at my feet. We walked on in silence for a little bit, and I listened for the slightest sound that might betray a careless footstep on a stalking enemy's part. My one uncovered eye raked the skyline, as my covered one felt for any life forces nearby. Nothing but birds and rodents, but then again, a vampire wasn't alive, was it? Thus I had to be on guard. "Hey, do you hear that?" Larsh said, and I listened hard. Utter silence. "What happened to all the birds?" He said, and I frowned. "Something's wrong. Go ahead with the others." I snapped, and he squeezed my arm once and was gone. I waited, cautiously uncovering both eyes and waiting for an attack.

_Integra's POV:_

When Seras and the others didn't come back, I became worried and strode out, shadowed closely by Alucard. When we came to the clearing intruders had been spotted on, I whistled. Seras and the others were curled up on the ground, eyes staring unblinking in front of them. "Seras, report!" I barked, and she twitched. "Police Girl, wake up." Alucard said impatiently, gently kicking her. She twitched again, but didn't speak. She wasn't the worse. We tried the others but when we touched _them_ they screamed. Verbal threats didn't work, nor visual ones from Alucard. "What happened here?" I said in concern, seeing a campfire that had been kicked out. "Perhaps if I try hypnotism…" Alucard mused, bending down and staring at Seras's face hard.

She twitched, and then started bucking, moaning and whimpering. "Stop…STOP!" She wailed, screaming. Alucard backed off, a startled look on his face. She stopped, and lay there, panting. "Seras…" I said warily, and she tried sitting up. "Sir Integra…master? What happened…?" she asked, looking around. "We were going to ask you the same question." Alucard said grumpily, and she swallowed hard, rubbing her forehead. "I don't know…I feel like I should remember her better…" she muttered to herself, and I sighed. "Report, vampire." She straightened, and attempted to salute. "Right sir. Well, after you told us to go check this out, we came upon a campfire with this girl, and I think I saw a few others. She was singing something, but she stopped when Captain Bernadette stepped out into the light. We warned her off, just like always, but she told _us_ to go away. She stood up, and the Captain told her once more, but she laughed and took off her blindfold…"

She whimpered, shaking, and Alucard and I exchanged glances. "And…" he said, tapping a foot. "It was…she was…I don't know. I felt so afraid and there was so much pain and everything was so strange…I can't remember exactly. But she said she warned us and sang this horrible song…" She trailed off again, putting her face in her hands. "Describe _exactly_ what she and you said, as far back as you can remember." I ordered, sighing impatiently. She nodded. "Well, I aimed the Harkonnen and said "Prepare to die, freak." She laughed and said "I'd drop that if I were you, you might hit your friends. They're all on the ground, sad to say." and I lowered it. "What did you do to us?" I asked, and she giggled. "Aw, didn't you hear me? _My eyes ripped_ _out as I wail_" and then she tapped the side of her head._ "-thrown into an old wooden pail, the power bound all snug and tight, to those who see drop dead with fright._ _I ask them why and they tell me so, for money, fame and fortune you know!_" and then she disappeared. That's all I can remember, aside from pain."

We looked at each other. "Sounds like fun." Alucard said, a predatory grin slowly emerging on his face. "Bring her back alive." I said, and his smile dropped. "Why?" he sulkily asked, frowning. "I want to learn more about something that can drop a vampire so very easily." I said firmly, lighting a cigar. "Seras, start bringing them in. We'll see what we can do." I said, wondering if there was anything in the library about such an affliction. She and Alucard nodded, and he vanished as she started rigging stretchers.

_Ochi's POV:_

I sighed, seeing the others start running. I didn't even try, because one, I wanted them to get away, and two, I was pretty sure it was useless. I tied my blindfold back on casually, sitting down and waiting as whatever was stalking us walked out in the open. I raised an eyebrow, sensing several things about him. Tall, vampire, _much_ stronger than that other girl, he practically radiated power, and did so as casually as my eyes radiating light. "Hello." I said calmly as he stopped in front of me. "How did you know I was here? I never made a sound." He said curiously, cocking his head. I mimicked him. "Why do you think?" I asked, poking his chest. He grabbed my wrist and jerked, snapping my bones easily. I refused to cry out, hissing a little through my teeth. He lifted me up, and pain shot throughout my entire body. I refused to struggle, gasping a little. "You're a stubborn one." He said calmly, swinging me slightly. I hissed as agony shot through my head, making it hard to think.

"Takes one to know one." I spat through gritted teeth, glaring at him viciously, wishing I could blast him. But, my eyes were impotent as long as they were covered, even though the fabric was starting to smoke. He rubbed it slightly, looking faintly curious, and I jerked back, hissing at him like a cat. He smirked. "Feisty too." He said appraisingly, still holding me up by my broken wrist. He reached down, lifting my shirt up, and despite the intense pain in my wrist I lashed out, kicking him hard between his legs. Despite that, he didn't even wince. "Virgin." He said, grinning mockingly. "Takes one…" I panted, nearly blind from pain. "…to know one." He growled, and slammed me against a tree, pinning me to it with his body. "Really?" he purred, as I felt something hard press into my stomach. I whimpered, flinching away from him desperately. He smirked and backed away, letting my drop to the ground.

"Yes, definitely a virgin." He said in satisfaction, and I hissed at him. He chuckled, and I opened my mouth with a flood of bad language, learned from the towns and slums we had frequented in our careers as circus freaks. He waited, smirking, until I ran out of breath and clapped. "Not one word repeated. I'm impressed." He said mockingly, picking me up by the collar of my shirt. I reached up for my blindfold, but there was a snapping sound and suddenly that wrist too was broken. "My fledgling warned us about your little gift." He said smugly, and I lashed out at him again, but didn't hit anything. He laughed. "Temper, temper." He chided, starting to walk somewhere. I panted, nearly blacking out from pain as I writhed desperately. He stopped, looking down at me. "My my, you _are_ a stubborn one." He said in annoyance, and I jerked, trying to get away from him. "Luckily, I can remedy that." Then there was a huge impact on the back of my head and I whined, going limp.

_Alucard's POV:_

She went limp, but to my extreme annoyance this girl just _would not_ be knocked out. She merely became a bit more submissive, but still awake, and more importantly, coherent. I shook her like that might help, but she just waited until I stopped before weakly kicking at me again. I growled ferociously and she flinched, not moving. I experimentally held her by her broken wrists again, shaking her, but she just whined a little in pain, not the full, loud screams I expected. I scowled; dragging her on the ground a little, to see if _that_ might make her scream. No such luck. She just used it as leverage to try and wrench herself away from me. I snarled in frustration, shouldering her and striding off back to the manor. "Stubborn wench." I spat at her, and she shifted slightly, almost like a proud shrug. I growled, pulling her back and letting my finger rest just at the corner of her eye socket. "Since you obviously don't need them, I think I'll just rip out these eyes of yours." I said, digging it in.

She wailed, writhing and jerking back so fast I dropped her. She curled up on the ground, whimpering, and I smirked in satisfaction. I picked her up again, feeling very satisfied now I had found her weak point. I tauntingly slid a hand up her thigh, wondering if she could even feel it. She hissed and thrashed, and I frowned, letting go. She certainly seemed to have recovered quickly from such an obviously phobic fear. "Don't…touch…me…" she growled, grinding the words out between gasps of pain. "Or what?" I said smugly, winding a lock of her hair around my fingers and sniffing it. She laughed bleakly. "Or…I start…sharing..." she grated, digging her nails into my back, drawing blood. Blinding, agonizing pain shot through me, bringing me to my knees and making me drop her body

The pain instantly stopped, and I breathed in, trying to focus. "Sharing?" I said dangerously, towering over her. She smirked weakly. "Sharing…my eyes aren't…the only thing…that's special." She panted, struggling weakly as I picked her back up. I growled, thinking to myself. "If you do that again I will kill you, orders or no." I snarled, and she chuckled weakly. "If I…do that again…you won't…have to…" she gasped, going limp. I frowned, then shrugged and phased to the Hellsing Manor.

_Ochi's POV:_

I wailed and jerked back, falling on the ground with a thump. Memories flashed inside my head, of my eyes being ripped from my head and the new ones being sealed in place, the chants, the smell of incense, the dark figures, the _pain_, whirled round and round in my head. I felt myself being picked up, and tried to pull myself together. _Pain is passing, pain is passing, pain is passing, pain is passing…_ I thought to myself desperately, calming down. I felt something cold on my upper leg, then my eyes burned in rage as I thrashed, making him let go, and snarled in his ear "Don't…touch…me…" He played with my hair a little, smirking. "Or what?" he asked, sniffing it. "Or…I start…sharing..." I hissed, digging my nails into his back. My broken wrist flared in pain, and I slammed it, along with all the pain my body was feeling and remembering, into his body.

He cringed, falling to his knees, and I tried to hold on but I was shaken off, and as soon as I broke contact with his back I knew the pain stopped. "Sharing?" he growled, looming over me. "Sharing…my eyes aren't…the only thing…that's special." I gasped, smirking at him smugly. He carried me a little longer, muttering to himself. "If you do that again I will kill you, orders or no." he said finally, and I snorted. "If I…do that again…you won't…have to…" I said, panting. My energy was already drained from that brief usage, and if I had to use it again, it was going to be life or death. He shrugged, shoulder digging into my stomach as I winced. Suddenly the world bent around us and I gulped, my eyes rolling.

He dropped me, and I impacted cold, hard stone. I bit back a yelp, flinching away from both him and the floor. He smirked, bending down and grabbing my hands. He pulled one up and there was a clink, followed by the sensation of cold metal. I struggled weakly as he clamped a shackle around my other hand as well, slumping in defeat as he straightened up. He cupped my chin, forcing me to look up, although he left my blindfold alone. "You just wait right here." He purred, rubbing my cheek with his thumb. "I'll go get someone to talk to you soon enough." I hissed at him, and he laughed, letting go and vanishing. I scowled; shaking my head like it could rid me of his touch. I sighed and leaned back, considering my options. The others should forget me soon enough and move on to a new leader, maybe Larsh or Kasai since they were the oldest. I bit my lip, wondering what I should do now.

The likelihood of me walking out here alive was increasingly negative. I may have my eye blast and a few other tricks up my sleeve, but I was still very human, and with two broken wrists I wasn't shaping up to be in good fighting condition. My eyes were humming, literally, making my wince and blink frantically. I was extremely angry, and in pain, which meant they were at triple power if I wanted to blast someone. If anyone less than a vampire took them off, they were going to be blasted to the ground faster than they could blink, literally. I turned experimentally, and winced as I felt several birds and mice flinch out of existence. Even through stone, with my eyes covered, I was killing smaller animals. Not good.

_Integra's POV:_

"So, you found her?" I said expectantly as Alucard phased into the room. Not a single one of the soldiers had snapped out of the coma they were in, and Seras was looking frantic as she shook the Captain, yelling in his ear. He nodded. "Young, barely out of her teens. Reddish hair, eye color unknown, obviously, just over a hundred pounds, skinny, dirty, and with a very high pain threshold indeed." He said rapidly, and I narrowed my eyes. "Pain threshold?" He smirked. "I broke both her wrists, dragged her by them, held her up by them and shook her hard, hit the back of her head, and not only did she remain conscious she didn't even scream once." He said the last part disappointedly, frowning. I raised an eyebrow. "Where is she now?" he smirked. "Down in the first cell of the basement." Seras's head whipped up, and eyes blazing, she phased down. I ran after her, Alucard chuckling in my wake.

She slammed the cell door open and I heard a young woman's voice, hitched with pain, say "Oh, hello. In my defense, you were the one's threatening m-" I heard an impact and flew in, seeing Seras punch her again in the stomach as she coughed up blood. "Seras! Stop!" I commanded, and she backed away, panting. The girl smirked at both of us, spitting more blood on the flagstones. "I take it you're this anger-management's boss?" she asked, cocking her head. I blinked. "How can you see?" I asked, noticing a blindfold went across her eyes, covering them completely. She shrugged. "How should I know? I just can. How are the humans I blasted? Still alive?" Seras snarled. "We can't wake any of them up you-" I gave her a sharp look and she blushed and closed her mouth.

"Really? Strange…" the girl mused, looking thoughtful. "You know how to fix them, right?" Seras said hopefully, and she snorted. "How the hell would I know that? This is the first time I blasted such a large group. You should count yourselves lucky you're not dead from me overshooting." I scowled. "So you have no idea how to help them?" I snarled, and she shrugged, wincing. "Nope. I just know how much damage I cause. I can tell from here I hit them harder than I wanted, but beyond that, I can't say anything." I sighed. "If we take you closer, might you be able to help?" she shrugged again. "We'll find out, won't we?" she asked, staggering upright. "Seras, restrain her." I said as she unclasped the chains. She frog-marched her back upstairs and she stopped in the entrance to the infirmary, rubbing her eyes. "Yow. I _really_ hit them hard, didn't I?" she commented, shaking her head like she was getting rid of water.

She moved over to the closest person, tilting her head like she was looking him over thoroughly. "Right then." She said suddenly, sitting down and yanking him upright. "Wake up." She said firmly, snapping her fingers under his nose. He spluttered like he was drowning, thrashing in her grip as she yelped and let go, holding her hands carefully against herself as he writhed. "That's it?" I said flatly, seeing him blink and look around. The girl rubbed the back of her head. "I actually didn't think that would work." She said, shrugging. "He thought he was being hypnotized so that's usually how you cure it…" she mused, moving to the next person. "What is this "blast" you do?" I asked, watching her sharply. She shrugged. "Dunno. I keep thinking I've figured it out and then it changes."

"What have you _theorized_?" I said impatiently, and she paused. "Psychic blast. Hallucination inducer. Severe mental pain causer." She said, shrugging. "That's what most of them seem to be screaming about." She returned to her "patient", and Seras and I looked at each other. "Most of them? Who?" I asked, and she chuckled. "Oh, the people the Ringmaster had me blast for my act. Like I said, I don't know much about it. Usually the people get dumped in the hospital and get relabeled as vegetables and deep frozen or whatever it is they do nowadays. Bloody idiots." I frowned. "Shouldn't you be a bit more…" Seras said, and she looked over her shoulder. "What? Sympathetic? Remorseful? Those things just got me more sleepless nights and whip lashes than comfort, so why should I care? I don't know them, and if I did, I wouldn't like them. Their essences reeked of greed." She said harshly, turning back around.

"Can we see these awe inspiring eyes?" I asked tartly, just a tiny bit heartsick. "Yeah sure, if you want to die. I'm in large amounts of pain and pissed off. That means a double dose of eye blast if I take my covering off, and I don't want your minions after me." She barked, moving on to the next person as this man groaned and stirred. She worked her way through the rest of the men in silence, and soon the silence was broken by lively chatter. They all sneaked glances at her, flinching if she turned in a way that might have exposed her face. She paused in the doorway and spun, and they all yelped and covered their eyes. She laughed mirthlessly and spun, stalking past me. I heard the words "ungrateful pigs…" muttered as she swept by, and smirked. "Shouldn't we get your wrists healed before we dump you back in your cell?" I asked her slyly, and she stopped.

"Why do you care?" she asked, turning to face me and folding her arms."I know how much pain you're in, no matter how you try to hide it." I snapped, in no mood to butter my words. "You got your wrists broke and have _used_ them, you must be in agony." I said in a less abrasive voice, and she paused, looking down at herself. "How do you fix broken bones in a few minutes?" she said slowly, and I smirked. "Leave that to me." I said firmly, grabbing her arm and tugging her towards where I last saw Alucard. "What's your name girl?" I asked her, and she shrugged. "Ochi." She said dully, and I shrugged. "Well, Ochi will do I suppose."

_Ochi's POV:_

"Well, Ochi will do I suppose." She said, and I scowled at her back. She suddenly stopped dragging me, and my blood went cold as I saw the familiar smirk of the vampire who had broken my wrists in the first place. "Yes master?" he asked, kneeling in front of the woman. "Alucard, I want you to heal this girl. Her name is Ochi." She said firmly, yanking me forward so I crashed into his chest. "Ochi?" Hmm…" he said, running his hands along my back tauntingly. "That's an interesting name." I snarled, jerking away as much as I was able. "I told you not to touch me." I hissed, my fingers itching to yank my blindfold down and blast him. He smirked and suddenly everything bent out of place again, settling into a dark room with a throne and a coffin. I growled, moving as far away from him as possible and sitting in a corner with my back pointedly turned toward him.

"Oh good. I love it when my females make me chase them." He purred, and I hissed to myself, taking a deep breath. "Let's get one thing straight vamp. I am not one of "your females", I am not making you "chase me" and I am _certainly_ not going to let you touch me again." I spat at him, and he chuckled. "Then how will you heal your poor little wrists?" he asked teasingly, making a lazy gesture towards them. I snarled. "I let this really cool fancy thing called _time_ and _the human immune system_ heal it for me, genius." I growled, and he bent over me. "What if I wrenched them out of place? You'll heal crooked. You need me…" he said tauntingly, one hand hovering over my wrist, just barely not touching it. I glanced down at my wrists silently. In truth, it hurt a lot, and he was partially right. So… "FINE." I growled, turning around and holding my arms out to him. "Fix it and leave me alone."

He smirked in satisfaction, grabbing my elbows and jerking me up to his lap, my body wedged in between his legs as he inspected my maimed hands. I blushed, taking deep breaths and trying very, _very_ hard not to whip my blindfold off and kill this creep. He licked his lips, looking down at me. "This is going to hurt. A lot." He warned me smugly, bringing my wrist up to his mouth. I gritted my teeth as he bit down hard, fangs scraping across my bones. It did hurt, and for a moment I arched, almost crying out, but controlled myself, hissing in and out through my teeth and swearing continuously inside my head. Then he started moving. His teeth gripped my radius, pulling it back into line. I had no idea what he did next, but the pain that flooded me was so indescribable that I let out a faint whimper, my eyes rolling with the effort to keep in all in. He let go, and I gasped, bringing my poor arm to my chest and scanning it thoroughly.

Aside from the bite mark, it was completely fine, and I rotated my wrist, feeling more confused by the second. He grabbed my other arm and I closed my eyes, nails digging into the arms of his chair as he bit down again. He wrenched that bone back into place as well, and I braced myself for the wave of pain that would follow. It came, and I hissed, the wood of the chair splintering and cracking under my hand. Finally, _finally_, he let go, and I backed away so fast my back hit the opposite wall. He chuckled darkly, towering over me, his face in shadow, except for the white gleam of his teeth. I closed my eyes, calming the frantic beating of my heart, or at least trying to. This small weakness didn't bother me, because he couldn't see them anyway and for all he knew they had been closed the entire time.

He bent down, grabbing my sore wrists and hanging me effortlessly above his head. I gulped, opening them. I was in his lair, and he was fully in control, we both knew that. "I wonder what my master will let me do to you?" he asked, cocking his head. I bared my teeth at him in a silent threat, but he wasn't paying attention. "Yes…Yes!" He chuckled, eyes widening in pleasure. He slammed me against the wall, and I stifled a whimper as some of my freshly healed whip scars opened. "My master has most generously allowed me to drain you." He said evilly, grinning wider. Something wrapped around my wrists and he let go, me dangling on his wall like a macabre decoration. He curled his fingers in my hair, jerking my head to one side, licking his lips as he stared at my neck. His other hand slid up my back, cupping my shoulder gently. I flinched away from it, hating myself for the slight pleasure it created.

He grinned at me, not doing anything else yet. "I wonder…" he mused, looking thoughtful. He leaned forward, breathing on my neck. "…will you enjoy this?" he purred seductively, licking my skin. I shuddered, leaning as far away from him as the wall, restraints, and his arms allowed. He chuckled darkly and bit me, fangs slicing through my neck to draw rich, red blood. Thankfully, this didn't hurt nearly as much as it had when he "fixed" my bones. What bothered me more was the sheer intimate contact, and how he seemed to enjoy it, rubbing my shoulder tauntingly and sucking hungrily at my neck. Slowly, slowly, the light dimmed, and I was relying more and more on the restrains to hold me up, slumping into his grip like I was falling asleep. My eyes rolled up in my head, the world spinning around me.

Dying didn't bother me, I had had a pretty damn miserable life so far anyway. But I _wasn't dying like this_. It was simply not allowable. I was not going to be captured, healed, and then drained by a blood hungry monster and his master. That was not how I was going, not if I could help it. I flashed pain at him in strobe-like bursts, quick and vicious. He grunted, hand gripping my shoulder more tightly in warning, but I was going anyway, much to my frustration. I slammed my forehead into his, and he actually let go, surprised. I hissed in satisfaction, my breathing light and shallow. The world was slowly fading, and my pulse was fluttering rapidly in my ears, but all sound was fading as well, my mind sliding down into an infinity of black. "I'm…not…dying…like…this…" I wheezed at him defiantly, before everything finally went black.

_Alucard's POV:_

Her blood crackled with energy, surging through my like an electric charge. I sucked hungrily, frowning in annoyance as the amount of blood coming to my mouth got less and less, and realized she was almost completely drained. I scowled, as a burst of pain flared in my head, followed by another and another and another. I gripped her shoulder more tightly, as both a warning and a better way to get more blood out. She suddenly slammed her forehead into mine, and I let go, surprised she was still conscious. "I'm…not…dying…like…this…" she whispered, shaking her head a little, before going absolutely limp, the utter stillness of death.

I studied her still form, thinking to myself. "I think I'll keep you." I told her finally, stretching and walking out to get a blood pack or two in her type. When I came back, I frowned. She was not, quite, dead when I had left, but she was rapidly progressing in that direction. I tilted her head, piercing her neck and draining the first blood pack into her body, reviving her a little. She twitched, only a little, but enough to tell me she was still alive. The next half hour progressed in silence as I slowly gave her enough blood to stay alive, maybe even get a little beaten if I was in the mood. After the last one was empty I carelessly threw it aside, collapsing in my chair and watching her with hooded eyes. Eventually she shook her head a little, probably opening her eyes as she swiveled, looking around her in confusion. I stood up, approaching her suddenly frozen form.

"I have decided to let you live, little minx." I said smoothly, stopping just in front of her. "Since I have saved your worthless life, I expect you to address me with respect. Master will do." I said, grinning, and she clenched her fists. "Well?" I prompted, folding my arms. "Never." Was her reply, loaded with enough venom to drop an army. I grinned. "I did hope I could wait until the blood I gave you mixed with your own, but I suppose I can stomach it." I said, tilting her head again and opening my mouth. She whined in fear, leaning away from me desperately. "Your choice…" I whispered in her ear, sliding my hand up her back and cupping her neck. She growled, rage smoking off her skin as her blindfold began to steam again. "I would rather die." She spat, before relaxing and waiting for me to bite her again, this time killing her by draining her completely.

I sighed. "Well then, I had hoped to see you amuse me further in future, but some things can't be helped." I said, wishing that at least I could have gotten some of her normal blood instead of the stale, mixed blood now polluting her system. I gripped her skin, biting down again and draining her slowly, the better to savor what was left of her delicious blood. I experimentally tried reading her thoughts, and was shocked to find her _annoyed_. She wasn't gibbering with fear or numb with acceptance, she was annoyed that she was dying this way. Her own life to her mattered very little, and she wasn't too scared of dying itself. What irked her was the _way_ she was dying, seeing it as an imposition and preferring to die in some way where she had an even fight, instead of helpless and pinned to a wall. I slowly stopped, curiosity getting the better of me.

_Master._ I called, and she answered irritably. _What?_ I let go of the unconscious Ochi's neck. _I want to keep this girl. She interests me._ She sighed. _Alucard, no more strays._ I frowned slightly. _Strays, master? If you wish for me to kill her, I can easily do so. I nearly drained her to death twice, just a little bit more would be so easy-_ Her voice cut me off. _No. Take her back to the cell she was in before, and spy on her. I want to know more as well._ I grinned. _Yes, my master._

_Ochi's POV:_

I blinked my eyes open again, peering around. To all intents and purposes I was back in the cell, my arms completely healed. I cautiously twisted my neck, feeling the sore skin where Alucard had bitten me. How was I still alive? "Are you okay?" Another girl's voice, and I turned to see a young girl with black hair and scared red eyes hanging on the wall across from me. I didn't answer. "Are you alright?" she asked again, straining at her chains. I glared at her, glad my eyes were still covered. "Beat it kid." I hissed, and would have turned my back on her if the chains permitted it. She whimpered, looking hurt. "Hey, I was just trying to be nice!" she wailed, and I smirked. "See where that got you? Now shut it and let me think in peace." I growled, and she brightened.

"A plan? Maybe we can work together!" she chirped, and I snarled. "Listen pipsqueak. I don't know who the hell you are or why you're here, so let me offer you a small piece of advice. Look out for yourself and tell the rest of the world to go to hell. You'll live longer." She whined, eyes watering. "You're really mean!" she wailed, sobbing. I hissed, wanting some peace and quiet. "FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING FREAKISH AND UNHOLY SHUT THE HELL UP!" I screamed at her, and she stopped, sniffling, but not wailing anymore. "Idiot girl…" I muttered, shaking my head. "You mean you never trust anybody?" she sniffed, trying to wipe her eyes but coming up short. "I've trusted about three people in my life." I said shortly, rattling my chains in an attempt to drown her out.

"What happened?" she asked, looking curious. I glared at her even more. "The first ripped my eyes out and sealed magic ones in instead. The second sold me to a freakshow circus where I got beaten every day. The third threw me to her hungry vampire slave after she was done with me healing her men. Trusting people only gives me trouble, so why even bother?" I said harshly, shrugging. "Did anyone ever trust you back?" she asked sadly, and I snorted. "Depending on your definition of "trust". Rely on me? Yes. Trust me? Not even in the slightest. Trust is not something I'm conductive to." She smiled at me hesitantly. "You can trust me, and I trust you." I snorted. "Shows how dumb you are. You just need me, when you're out I doubt you'll spare much thought to helping me at all. I only see you as something to throw at the enemy, or better still, trade." I growled, tapping a finger against the wall impatiently.

_**So then, that's my debate. This or the first one. Meva vrs. Ochi. Ask me if you're wondering anything for better detail, and I'll tell you. If even in the end it's a dead tie, I will just not finish either of these, and as you can tell, there's a lot to go on after I've stopped. So please, please tell me something. If you so wish, these stories are up for adoption, and yes, I will give you all the credit. Like, if this one wins, Meva's story is definitely up for grabs, just PM me or Review and I'll get back to you. If Meva's story wins, same thing. If neither wins, both up, probably. I may keep one as a pet project and finish it eventually. But it's all up to you! If you post an "I really freaking want this" message, I might not get back to you until judging time, because I'll be in a place with no internet access. Otherwise I would never have the patience to wait for you people to be done with this. Thank you for reading!**_


	2. Wiccan

**_And another one...and another one...eventually I'll stop, right?_**

_Careful…careful…don't mess this up…c'mon…_ "PENYIHIR!" I swore as my hand jerked at the loud nose, causing the tracer I was using to skid a micrometer out of the design. Still swearing up a storm under my breath I jerked my bedroom door open, glaring at my little brother. "Asher, this better be good…" I growled, showing him the messed up pendant I had been working on. He deflated a little, but not as much as he should have. Figures. The little pest didn't know how serious this was. "Are you going to lurk up here all night? The convention starts in an hour and we need to go _now_!" I sighed, going back into my room and jerking my boots on, slinging my purse over my shoulder that had a few manga books and a DVD I was going to take out but kept forgetting to, and my wallet inside the pockets. I jammed a ring on my finger and snagged an amulet, not wanting to go out without _any_ protection. I carefully placed the ruined pendant in a protected box, hoping nothing happened before I got back home and could neutralize it.

As we walked out I left a note for our parents explaining our route, destination, and time expected home as well as the time we left. Precision was a key part of my life, as it would be in anyone's after so long being a…well, whatever the polite term was. I turned the key in the engine of the old car, hearing it cough to life as my brother sat in the seat next to me, bouncing with anticipation. We crept slowly out onto the road, and he immediately snatched my purse and began digging through it. "Hey, why do you have the Hellsing DVD in here!? I've been looking for it for ages! And the first two books!" he glared at me, looking betrayed. I sighed, snatching it back and plopping the bag in my lap. "I keep forgetting to get it in the house after that one night we had a marathon in Zoe's house. And you know how the books just drift in and out of my purse…"

He snorted, folding his arms. We sat in silence for a while longer, and I rubbing the comforting stone of my amulet, feeling the humming buzzes of activated power. "And why do you never have any jewelry in there? You wear, like, enough to buy a house, why not just put it in the bag instead?" I glared at him. "First, only a few are metal and very few of _those_ are precious metal. Second, they don't do any good in my purse." He humphed and glowered at the windshield, probably thinking to himself on how foolish a woman's accessory obsession could be. I let him think that. After all, it would hurt him to. Also, I was telling the truth. The protective amulets and other jewelry I wore would be as good as nothing if they were not on my person specifically. We bantered back and forth on the whole way there, and I entered the anime convention in a mood of annoyed interest. We stayed a few hours, and by the time we left, I was a little happier.

My collection was increased by a small amount, two pairs of live kunai knives that I had personified while Asher was getting his own books signed. I had engraved a blessing on the edges, and a power symbol on the hilts, with the signature "_blessed be_" running around the pommel. Now they were proof against demons or other such unholy creatures, and while not exactly _Excalibur_, they would still actually hit them. I strapped them to my thighs, yanking my shirt down a little as Asher rejoined me. We walked out, him complaining the whole way about wanting to stay longer and me ignoring him, sitting in the front seat and turning the key in the engine. It rumbled, and as it did I felt a sharp slashing pain on both hands, and Asher cried out. I looked back, seeing him staring at his hands, and followed the look, seeing nothing on his palms. I got out, grabbing his wrists and thoroughly examining his hands.

_Nothing…wait._ I let my eyes unfocus, and bit my lip when I saw an almost impossibly intricate symbol, glowing a soft white. I looked down at my own hands, seeing the same thing. _What the hell…_ "Do not move." I snapped, bringing his hand close to my face and looking at my own beside it. He was trembling, and I shushed him gently, looking at the symbols harder. They were identical as far as I could see, so that was good. If anything happened it would happen to us both. I dropped his hand, studying my own and tentatively reaching my power out to touch it, gripping his arm tightly just in case. Nothing happened for a moment, and then it zapped me as I made the first sign of unraveling. I growled, letting go and stopping my examination. "Asher, listen to me. Can you see these symbols?" I asked, showing him the back of his hand and holding mine up as well. He blinked, his old look returning to his eyes. "Are you batty? WHAT SYMBOLS?!" I sighed, letting go. "That answers that question."

There was a sudden whoosh, and he clung to me as we were suddenly tipped over, gravity whirling around us. It righted itself, and I sat up, rubbing my bum where it had hit a rock. My eyes widened, and I stood, glancing frantically around. "Uh…Asher? We're not in Ireland anymore…" I said softly, pointing to the looming clocktower a few miles downriver. "Gee Dorothy, where are…what the hell?!" I wasn't far behind. We were smack dab in the middle of London, England, and not only that, we were on the riverfront. Like, on the _beach_ part of it. "Uhh…" he mumbled, looking around frantically like Ireland would suddenly appear again. "Chill Ashes. All we have to do is find one of those big red phone booths and try to explain to mom why we're in London and she'll pick us up." I said, starting to walk to where a ladder was. He followed, obviously uneasy.

"Hey sis…are you sure it's safe?" he asked, eyes darting around. I rolled my eyes, but answered gently. "Nobody's been killed by a homicidal phone booth yet Ashes." He glared up at me, unconsciously straightening his shoulders. "Don't call me Ashes." I chuckled, climbing up the rusty ladder easily, him clambering up behind me. "Ring around the rosy, pocket full of posies, Ashes, Ashes, he falls down!" I cackled, shaking the ladder as he yelped and clung to it. "DON'T DO THAT!" he roared up at me, looking terrified. I smirked, rolling over the railing and watching as he seated himself behind me. "Daw, you're no fun." I said teasingly, and he shot me a glare before getting to his feet. I inhaled deeply, out of habit, and paused. "Asher…do you smell that?" I asked nervously, rubbing my pendant harder and edging away from the dark shadows of the trees ahead of us. "Wha…EWW!" he shouted, covering his mouth and nose. "Who left the sewage out?!" he gagged, looking sick. I drew a kunai knife, motioning him behind me. "That's not sewage. It's…rotting meat." I whispered, seeing movement far ahead. He blinked up at me, clinging to my free hand. "Penyihir… I'm scared…" he mumbled and I bit my lip. "Asher, put this on." I said, taking my pendant off and offering it to him.

"It'll protect you." I clarified as he looked at me like I was going batty. He hung it around his neck, and I breathed on my ring, awakening it. It glowed a soft green, and he gasped, drawing back as he saw the glow mirrored on his own jewelry. "What did you do?" he asked softly, grabbing the necklace and staring at the swinging stone, mesmerized. "I activated them. They…oh god, I forgot…oh yeah. Yours will deflect any attacks." He brightened, straightening and beginning to inch forward. "BUT…" I warned him, and he stopped. "It'll only stop a certain kind. If someone tries to shoot you or stab you, it won't stop that. But for a physical attack, they won't be able to touch you." I said, and he gulped, edging back behind me. I breathed on my ring again, and it glowed brighter. "What does yours do?" he asked, and I grinned. "The same thing. Only mine's a bit more…offensive. Now let's go find that telephone booth." We started walking, and I felt drained steadily by the humming power, the energy needed to maintain our protections making me feel like we were running instead of walking.

We came to a street, and both gulped at the copious amounts of blood staining the sidewalk and road. There were neat piles of ash, and in every pile there was a blade. I picked one up, unfocusing my eyes and seeing a pulsing yellow glow. I dropped it, yelping as the glow burned my retinas. These were _heavily_ blessed, making the spell I put on my kunai look like a wonky pentacle. "Penyihir! Are you okay?" Asher scrambled over, and I rubbed my eyes. "Yeah…these just caught me by surprise. They're blessed, like, a LOT. We can use these." I said, picking some up and tucking them in my belt. He followed, and I handed him one as I placed another atop one of my kunai. I pulled a piece of chalk out of my pocket and traced a standard transferal sign on the ground, closing my eyes and infusing it with power. There was a slow spark, and then I picked up my kunai, feeling the blessing now transferred to the small knife, the larger one now just dull steel. I repeated the process on the other three, and then stood, walking away from the scene of battle with Asher scrambling behind.

"Hey sis…I have a feeling…" he said slowly, jumping at every sound. "People usually do." I said flatly, wanting him to be quiet as we went deeper into the suspiciously silent streets. "Something bad's going to happen." He said softly, sounding petrified, and I blinked. "Hmm…alright Asher. I believe you." I said, pausing and looking over my shoulder. He brightened, and I sighed as we went further, passing a flickering street light and a broken stopsign. There was another field of dust and blood, only this time there were bullets. I picked one up, unfocusing my eyes and seeing another, less stringent, blessing on it, and pocketed it for further study. "Hey Asher…there may be monsters here. These ashes all have something blessed in them." I said, and he blinked. "Like in Hellsing?" he asked, and I froze. "Uh…yeah…kinda…" I said, glancing down at my hands and shivering. We went further on, and I tried to erase the thought of ghouls from my mind. I didn't know if their will was strong enough to be repelled by our charms, and frantically hoped it was. _But, you don't even know if you just got zapped to the Hellsing universe. Stop worrying._

There was a yell above us, and I glanced up, seeing a dark figure dropping from the roof. I jumped back, knocking Asher to his back under me and jabbing my ring up. There was a flash of green and the yell turned into a snarl as the figure was propelled into a wall. Asher moaned under me, and I yanked him to his feet, already exhausted by the use of power. "Move it move it move it move it!" I shouted, dragging him behind me as he recovered from his shock and began running on his own. "What did you do?!" he panted, and I breathed on my ring again, recharging it. "Repel. That's the same thing yours will do, except yours is limited to anything with attacking intent. Mine hits anything I aim at." I said, glancing over my shoulder to see the figure stagger to his -it was a male- feet, and there was a flash of glasses as he watched us. Suddenly a huge shout of "AMEN!" echoed across the empty street, and the ground around us was peppered with blades as we ran, me holding my ring behind my back to deflect them from us both.

"This is seriously just like Hellsing!" Asher muttered in a panic, ducking closer to me as a bayonet impaled the ground less than an inch from his foot. "If that's Father Alexander Anderson then shouldn't we tell him to stop doing this?" I grunted; sweat trickling down my back from the effort of both running and keeping the spell in place. "ANDERSON KNOCK IT OFF! WE AREN'T VAMPIRES!" Asher shouted before I could stop him, and miraculously, the hail of blades stopped. We skidded to a stop, my hands on my knees and gasping as I was forced to let the spells go. "How'd you know my name?" a rough voice asked, and we both gaped as Alexander Anderson himself stepped out from the shadows, arms folded. Asher rubbed his eyes, and then looked again. My mouth was hanging open, both of us shocked into silence. "You're…you're…" Asher mumbled, stammering as he pointed weakly at the huge, threatening, and _impossible_ priest before us. "…real…" I whispered, sinking to my knees. He raised an eyebrow. "You've heard of me?" We both glanced at each other, and then back at him. "Yeah…" I said meekly, staggering to my feet and leaning on Asher for support.

"What'd you hear?" he asked warily, and I gulped as Asher straightened. "Father Alexander Anderson, the Paladin, Executioner Anderson, Bayonet Anderson, Off with Its Head Anderson, Dust to Dust Anderson. Place of birth unknown, age unknown. Even your origins are unknown. I'M A HUGE FAN!" Asher said solemnly, before shouting the last bit and hugging a very surprised Anderson around the waist. I sighed, shaking my head as Anderson managed to dislodge him and stand back. "What about you lass?" he asked, a dangerous glint coming into his eyes. "Same thing. Do you really_ need_ that many nicknames?" I asked cheerily, sweating a little more, thankfully unnoticed. He relaxed, and I did too, relieved he bought it. "So what in God's name are two younglings like yourselves doing _here_?" he asked, stabbing a bayonet at the ground to accompany _here_. "No clue." I said wearily, covering Asher's mouth before he could spew something we'd regret later.

"Well, it'd be a shame to leave some poor children all alone. Come with me lad, lass." He said, walking away as we followed without hesitation. "We live in Ireland, on the coast." I said clearly, before bending down and whispering to Asher "Are you sure we want to follow this guy? He's crazy!" Asher looked up at the tall Catholic, then back down to me. "I don't know! But he's all we got right now!" he hissed back, and we both warily looked at the grey back of our doubtful savior. Suddenly gunshots rang out, and we both ducked as Anderson deflected them with his arms. "Hide!" he ordered, and we scrambled behind a trash can as he strode quickly to a point in the street. "Do you think it's…" Asher whispered in anticipation, clutching my arm. "We did find blessed silver bullets…" I mumbled, trying to stop a fangirl shriek and swoon. Alucard strode out from the blackness, grinning demonically, and I wavered, wanting to slump to the ground. _No, be strong, be strong, remember Anderson's still here…_

Speaking of, the priest started his thing. "May all you foul creatures be damned to the deepest depths of Hell. AMEN!" he shouted, spraying a storm of bayonets at Alucard, who snorted, easily shooting them out of the air. "Hello Judas Priest. I didn't know you cared enough to bring me a snack…" He said, grinning directly at us, showing his fangs, and Anderson snarled. "Dinnae touch them you hypocritical monster! They're citizens of the city your cursed master "protects"!" he yelled, slashing at Alucard viciously, and he avoided it with a bow and a smirk in our direction. I began rapidly sketching a symbol on our clothes with blood, hoping desperately Anderson could hold out long enough for it to dry. Wouldn't work very well if it got covered or smudged before it dried. I sealed in the power, and Alucard spared a shocked glance in our direction as the symbols flared a dull red before vanishing.

"Hmm…it seems the snacks have a little surprise…" he murmured, grinning at Anderson and vanishing into shadows as I tensed, breathing on my ring to activate the wavering spell. There was a snarl behind me and I whirled, shoving my ring at him and shouting the activating word to further power it. Alucard was blasted away, silently crashing through at least one building as I looked at my ring in awe. "C'MON LASS!" Anderson bellowed, yanking me to my feet and hauling me after Asher. I recovered my wits and pounded away, panting in fear, but not feeling the tug that meant I needed to recharge my ring. _God, what do I have on hand that won't just push him away?! Okay, think Penyihir, think…songs make magic stronger, I have a ready-made ring and pendant, no fluids to engrave except blood, so what will…oh._ I grabbed a kunai, rapidly carving a symbol into my arm and desperately hoping I wasn't getting it wrong. "Lass what on earth are you doing?" Anderson growled, and I shook my head, unable to answer as I caught the dripping blood in one hand and breathed out the fragments of song.

"Bow down you clowns, answer to me! Show them what you'll be for the great Conchita! Think once or twice, food is my vice; let them pay with a heavy price!" I whispered, feeling the blood in my hand start to warm even more, to the point of boiling as I gasped, the symbol on my arm healing with a searing pain as we came to a dead end, Anderson turning and facing Alucard with a snarl on his face. "C'mon, why so defiant Judas Priest? They're Protestants, why not let me have them? I promise, if you stand down now I'll only take the female. She smells delicious." He purred, eyes flicking over me in a single assessing glance. Anderson growled and was about to snarl out a response when I ducked under him, glaring at Alucard with my boiling hot blood still cupped in my palm. "Leave us alone!" I shouted, binding the command into the blood, as well as my previous spell as I flung the liquid at him, red drops glinting in the light of the streetlamps.

He hissed as it hit him, staggering back like the palmful of blood was a sledgehammer. I ducked back behind Anderson as he let the bayonets clatter to the ground, gaping as Alucard was forced to his knees, snarling in pain. He came to himself and rapidly shoved Asher up the wall, letting him grip the edge of the roof and pull himself up, doing the same to me and then following. Alucard stopped his hissing, gazing at his hand as if mesmerized by the sight. My gut clenched, and I swallowed hard. _God…WHAT HAVE I DONE TO HIM?!_ I whimpered, closing my eyes and starting to run, instinctively knowing what was going to happen next. Asher and Anderson followed, and I heard hungry snarls and angry screams of pain behind us. "What in God's name did ye do to him…" Anderson muttered, glancing behind him as Asher stared at me in awe. My gut clenched more, remembering the rest of the song. _Now is the time for me to devour everything, what's left to eat, I wonder what this life can bring? Smiling away, what can I possibly eat today? I got a plan; I guess I am my own buffet! Conchita's found his meal today, with nothing left, __**he has become himself his prey**_.

"Bad spell, bad spell, very bad spell, never using that again…" I whispered, sickened as I heard Alucard painfully begin to drink his own blood. Anderson grabbed my arm, swinging me around and stopping me. "Lass, what did ye do to that vampire?" he asked sternly, and I inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to calm myself. "Cannibal spell…" I murmured, looking at my feet and retching a little at the sick feel churning in my gut. He instantly let go, and I swayed, kneeling on the ground and feeling like I was going to throw up. Asher gulped, looking behind us. "That's…sick big sis. Really sick." He mumbled, clutching his own stomach. "I didn't have anything else…he was going to eat us!" I yelped, and then groaned as my stomach hurt even more. I was being punished for using a harmful spell when I had sworn as a white magic user not to.

Anderson chuckled, unexpectedly helping us both up. "In such situations eating often is all one can think of. Ye did well for a panicked spell lass." He started to run, and we followed, sick feeling abating somewhat. I was frantically sketching more and more patterns onto our bodies, causing me to almost constantly flare a dull red as I protected myself over and over again, doing the same and more to Asher. Hasty, cobwebbed spells, but layered, which might at least make Alucard flinch before he bit down…not that it would come to that. But doing this type of magic led one to cover every contingency. I clenched my fists around the kunai knives, feeling the reassuring leather beneath my palms. There was a gunshot, and I splayed my hand behind me, barely deflecting the round. Not good. He was up and moving, and that meant trouble with a capital NOW. I sped up, coming even and in front of Anderson, who was slowing, clearly intending to fight Alucard. "GO! A CHURCH!" he bellowed, and we obeyed, jumping down and landing in an alleyway.

I led the way now, yanking Asher behind me and diving into the cover of a very big church indeed, slamming the doors open with my ring and dragging him inside, closing the doors and heaving deep breaths as we recovered. "Who do you think'll win?" Asher asked, and I glared at him. "Alucard would normally whip him three ways to Sunday, but he's after us so…" There was a bang and a snarl, and we both jumped. Anderson began yelling prayers, and we both relaxed, but still edged away, and I began tracing symbols on the ground, frantically hoping I would be able to delay Alucard long enough so Integra or someone else would come and call him off. I splayed a hand, glowing pictures popping off the ground and slithering under the door as I panted, seeing through them as Alucard and Anderson stared at the hovering sigils. They split up, hovering around each and I panted, sweat soaking my skin as Alucard snarled and brought his guns up, shooting them rapidly out of the air. Anderson merely waited until they touched him, eyes widening as he realized their purpose. Alucard realized that they merely came back up after he shot them, so redirected his attentions to Anderson.

The bullets froze, hovering in the air, and I twitched. Anderson smirked, and I gasped as I managed to turn them, silver churning towards Alucard as he grunted in exasperation and vanished. Or at least tried to. My sigils surrounded him, pressing into his skin as he snarled, skin starting to smoke wherever they touched it. Then the bullets hit him, driving him back. Anderson shouted a prayer, charging towards him with his knives, and Alucard brought his gun up with gritted teeth. This was merely an annoyance and a hindrance, not _near_ enough to stop him, but it was all I could do for the moment, and hope it was enough. Even the odds a little and pray for the best. My nails were digging into the concrete, sweat pouring down my body as I shook, panting heavily and gasping as I powered the sigils by sheer stubborn will, keeping them pressed against Alucard, burning him and holding him. Asher was staring at me, looking torn on whether to hide or help me, and I smirked at him briefly before Alucard attempted to force free, will grating against my own as I cried out, bright lights burning in my head as I crumpled.

He was so strong, like a surging tide. Like a squirming snake, he was writhing out of my spell, inch by agonizing inch. And it burned. I whimpered, clutching the ground like it was my lifeline as my head spun and flared, agony whirling around and around in my mind as he broke me down, bit by bit. I gritted my teeth, knowing how stupid and suicidal it was to stand against him, and switched tactics. I broke the spell with a shouted word, barely giving him time to smirk in victory before I redirected the whiplash of power back to him instead of me, backstroke making him stagger and hiss in pain. It vibrated through our still-connected minds, and I grimaced, biting back a scream. _How can he handle this much pain?!_ I severed the connection with a whimper, attempting to sit up as Anderson resumed the fight, hacking and slicing at Alucard as the vampire quickly recovered. I gasped as Asher propped me up, holding a drink of water up to my lips. I grabbed it and drank, leaning back and giving him a tiny smile of reassurance, squeezing his arm. "Alucard…has a very wiggly mind…" I joked weakly, and he snorted, holding his hand over his mouth and chuckling.

I smirked weakly, feeling energy surge through me much faster than usual, and peeked at my hands, seeing the barely perceptible white symbols pulsing in rhythm to my heartbeat, bringing a jolt of energy with every throb. I raised an eyebrow. Aside from inconveniencing us in the extreme, it seemed these things also brought health. I stood, taking a deep breath and sending one of the still working symbols off the ground, still feigning weakness as it bobbed, seeing Alucard and Anderson working at it hand to hand. I bit my lip, chalking out another, larger, single design rapidly, hasty movements still precise, _always_ precise, as I kneeled in the center, assuming a meditative position. This was the largest spell I had ever done, although I had done it before as a joke on a much, _MUCH_ smaller scale. But you didn't go small with Alucard. You threw everything you had at him in bursts, and ran like heck when you ran out of attacks. Anderson paused and crossed himself as shadows began appearing, but Alucard stopped as well, wary of my next trick. I didn't have time and wasn't in the mood for theatrics, and ghosts appeared, snarling and clawing at the No-Life-King, causing red to trickle down his face and back.

I had no (pun that this was) illusions that the illusions would fool him for long, but he didn't focus on them long enough to tell more than a few silver bullets wouldn't harm them, returning to Anderson and ignoring the wraiths as they wailed and clawed, gritting his teeth against the pain. I was almost completely dead to the world, focusing on making the movements, jamming healthy doses of pain in his mind from what I was feeling, and oozing the sensation and smell of blood down his back. Anderson was fighting well, but Alucard and I could tell he was tiring. The sun was almost up, and I hoped desperately that Integra and Seras would come in before he killed Anderson. The Paladin still had a part to play in the Battle of London, saving Integra's life and killing Maxwell. Blessedly, almost as soon as I thought that, I heard the familiar bellow of "ALUCARD!" that caused the roof to shake and the pews to dance on the floor, stained glass shattering inwards. Well, not really. But it certainly sounded like it should. I let the wraiths vanish, clawing my way to my feet and leaning heavily on Asher as he dragged me to the doorway, watching to see what would happen.

Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing was tapping her foot, looking P. beyond the limits of human imagination as Alucard and Anderson paused, the lights of what were probably the Hellsing vans lightly them strangly. "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!" she roared, making the cars dance on the street and blowing Alucard's hat right off his head. Again, not really, but it certainly sounded like it was the very least that bellow would do. "AND ANDERSON, WHY ARE YOU HERE?!" she screeched, and he bowed slightly. "On a mission. I came upon these two young children-" I growled, stepping forward slightly, almost falling without the support of Asher. "Oy! I'm eighteen next month!" I shouted, balling my fists and glaring at the priest as Asher propped me up again. He sighed heavily and restarted. "-and I came across these young ones, who asked for assistance. Shortly after, _that-_" he jabbed a bayonet at Alucard, who merely grinned, although I was personally surprised at how the word "that" could be ingrained with such hatred and disgust. "-showed up and demanded I hand them over as his snacks."

"And then she made me drink me own blood." He purred seductively, red gaze telling me I was most certainly not forgiven for that. "You were threatening to eat me. S'not my fault if that sort of spell was the first thing that came to mind." I hissed, still needing Asher to hold me up. He chuckled, making sure that I knew he knew how weak I was right now, and how easy it would be for him to kill me or Asher. _Not today vampy. I have a few more tricks up my sleeve._ Integra growled, holding her head like it hurt. Probably did, poor woman that needed to deal with Count Trigger-happy all day. "Anderson, return to the Vatican. I'll take these two into custody, and don't worry, Alucard won't eat them." She said, giving Alucard a look that clearly said "_he better not_". Alucard merely smirked at her and pointedly phased right next to us, making Asher flinch away and forcing me to stand on my own. I hissed at him, deliberately turning my back and dragging Asher over to Integra, ignoring the now…pouting?! Yes, he was _pouting_ behind us, muttering under his breath. I hid a smirk, and we got in the van with a little wave to Anderson. It was deathly quiet; Alucard apparently pretending to sleep and Integra still grumbling, cigar smoke wafting over us.

However, we found a way to amuse ourselves. "So that's why we found my father's car covered in goats' blood and rammed into a Dairy Queen." Asher whispered, making me giggle as I glanced at Integra, clapping a hand over my mouth. "Yes I do, I take enthusiastic walks through the woods." I whispered back, glancing at Alucard, and we both cracked up, giggles and snorts echoing in the small metal confines. Alucard lifted his hat slightly, glowing crimson eyes annoyed and intrigued. We managed to keep it in for a few more miles, and then Asher broke the floodgates. "You missed!" he whispered, and we both lost it, laughing so hard Alucard and Integra both gave us wary glances, like we were insane. "Is that anything we would be interested to know?" Integra asked frostily, and we lost it again, imagining showing her Hellsing Abridged. "I apologize master; they seemed much saner when I was attacking them." Alucard murmured, leaning back again. "S-sorry…it's just a show you guys would find…interesting." I managed to gasp out, and we both chuckled in silence for a few moments longer.

"One wonders what they would think?" Asher said, staring at the both of them. I frowned, contemplating it. "He'd either flip and shoot the computer to bits or laugh his glasses off. She'd flip. Definitely." I said, studying them for a moment. Asher nodded. "Yeah." They were staring at us again, and it was a tense few moments until we got to the Manor. We got out, and I nudged Asher, remembering something very, very bad. "What?" he whispered, somehow catching onto the distress vibes I was sending out. "I left the DVD and books in my purse." I murmured, pointing as the security guards began to open it. Integra glanced at us sharply as we winced, seeing him stare into it like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "We're screwed." I muttered, clenching my fists as he pulled the first book out. We both closed our eyes against the onslaught as Integra turned to us, looking stunned. "We can explain?" I said meekly, and her expression darkened. "YOU HAD BETTER!" she roared, shoving the incriminating image into our faces.

I sat on the edge of my chair, not touching the tea. "So…better start talking then." I mumbled as Integra and Alucard both glared at us like they would find answers if they stared hard enough. "Okay…here goes…" I said, taking a deep breath and yanking the cover away, beginning to flip through the pages. "We must come from some sort of freaky alternate dimension, because in the London we know, this-" I showed them the book, manga images of themselves. "-is just an entertainment thing. A made-up fantasy by a Japanese author. There was an anime series, and OVA, both based off the manga, although in my opinion the OVA were better…" I grumbled, seeing their expressions darken again. "Alright…why on earth should we believe that?" she asked, and I frowned. "Okay, I have an idea, but you'll need to tell me something. Has he-" I jabbed a finger at Alucard. "Brought home a girl by the name of Sears Victoria yet?"

They both glanced at each other, and we nodded. "No mercenary team?" I asked, and Integra glared at me before shaking her head. "So they're between OVA 1 and 2. Great…" Asher grumbled, folding his arms. "Right then. Ask us something your enemies would have no way of knowing, but I warn you, the OVA was pretty spotty about your flashbacks." I said, steepling my fingers and waiting for the first question. "What is Alucard's true name?" she barked, and we both looked at him warily. "Promise not to try and hurt and or kill us?" I asked, and he growled, nodding. I took a deep breath. "You were Prince Vlad Dracul, the one who stood against the Ottoman Empire and all that. Sometime around the age of nine you were raped by some fancy dude who looked a bit like a bishop or whatever, but anyway, you got violated and you had a small silver cross in your left hand the entire time, and as he was having at you, you re-instated that you would not plead or beg God for help in your thoughts. The flashbacks leave off until your capture by Van Hellsing, and it shows you by this spooky old graveyard, with a stake through your heart."

"You were wearing a suit and a black jacket, kinda like the one you have now." Asher piped in. "He said "The grass witherith, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God abidith forever!" then he hit you again. You didn't say anything. He talked about you castle being plundered, your dominions in ruins, and your servants being destroyed. And…something about a girl." He added the last part, not looking at Alucard's eyes as they flared a dangerous red. "Then he hit you again and you blacked out." I said, picking up where Asher had begun to falter. "Then the story leaves out a good chunk of years until Arthur locks you in the basement for twenty years and Integra comes down and frees you, by getting shot by her uncle right here-" I tapped my shoulder, and glimpsed Integra's arm slid up and touch the same spot on her own arm in a daze. "- and you screamed, falling back. Some of the blood landed by Alucard and he licked it up, awakening. He slaughtered your uncle's guard in a lovely display of violence and it kinda blurs out, but it is understood that you kill your uncle and are seen with gun in hand, looking pretty dang badass. The rest picks up just as Alucard starts out on his Cheddar mission, and moves on from there. Can't tell you more until we pass Ova 2. Well Alucard? You regretting promising not to hurt us?" I asked softly, seeing his raging eyes.

"Very." He growled, and I dipped my head, acknowledging him. "Fair enough. I'd be a bit touchy if someone could rattle all this off about you in about three minutes." I said coolly, and Integra sucked in a deep breath. "How many of these…OVAs…are there?" she asked, and we blinked. "Ten." I said instantly, and she frowned. "That few?" We shrugged. "They're all about an hour long. Adds up to quite a series." I said, and Asher nodded violently. "Right…obviously we can't let you two just walk on out of here." She said, and we nodded again. "It'd kinda suck if the Ma-" Asher began, before I clapped a hand over his mouth, hushing him violently. "SHH! They don't know about you-know-what yet!" I hissed, and he blinked, looking sheepish as I removed my hand. "We don't know about…I won't ask." Integra murmured, shaking her head sadly. "Alucard said something about you using magic. Explain that." She said, and I grinned. "Gladly. I use people-friendly and defensive magic mostly, but as Alucard found out, I will use offensive magic if pushed." Alucard grimaced and nodded.


	3. Alchemy

_**I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! PLOTBUUNNNNYYYY! DX Grrrr… well, might as well publish. Oh, FYI, there may be new bits that show up every so often, since this ain't a real story I'll just add more on the bottom.**_

_**Alchemy:**_

The night was quiet. Alucard appreciated that. He stalked through the woods, faintly hearing shots far, far behind him, but overall the night was quiet. He was about to make it much, much louder. Suddenly a loud scream spilt the night air, and he cocked his head, curious. He sniffed; smelling human and vampire, close by. He grinned, phasing silently, seeing a small group of four vampires beating a young human female. His smirk widened. "Scream again tart!" one snarled, kicking her face, sending her skidding along the hard-packed earth. She propped herself up on her elbows, spitting out blood as another approached her. "Talk girlie." He snarled, slamming her face back into the ground. She struggled as he grinded her against dirt and rock, finally going limp as he lifted her up to his face. "Talk." He ordered softly, grinning.

Suddenly her face split in a wide grin matching his, and she yelled "NOW!" He suddenly swung her, body twisting so she kicking two of the others in the jaw, following through with a punch to send the third sprawling. She rolled to her feet, brushing herself off casually as the other male's scent sudden shifted to human, red eyes glowing and settling back to a mischievous and lively brown. She high-fived him, grinning manically, and one of the vampires groaned. She sighed and bent down, accepting the knife her accomplice handed to her. "Scream…boy." She chuckled, tracing it along his jaw as he whimpered and writhed, skin splitting and turning to ash in the wake of the blessed silver. She reversed grip and plunged the knife into his skull, and he stiffened, then collapsed into dust.

Her friend stabbed the other two, and they sighed in unison, sheathing the knives and dusting themselves off. Alucard chuckled darkly, and they whipped around, eyes widening. "Well done. But those were _my_ kills." He said, and they gulped as he drew the Casull. In a flash of movement they were gone, dodging the bullets he sent after them, ducking under a tree and sweeping two large backpacks on, sprinting to a road. He followed, grinning as he sent a hail of bullets into the ground behind the supernaturally fast teens. The girl reached the road first, gunning a motorcycle as the boy jumped beside her, roaring off into the night. He chuckled, still easily following them, running alongside and mockingly tipping his hat to the frightened pair.

The girl was intently focused on the road, but the boy scowled and pulled a pistol out from a holster in the framework of the machine. He aimed, carefully cocking the hammer back as Alucard smirked wider. A bullet blast went off, and he easily dodged, but suddenly, barely a fraction of a second later, another gun blast echoed among the trees and he choked, blood fountaining out of his mouth as the blessed silver hit his throat, sticking somewhere in his spine. He scowled, seeing the smugly grinning female holding a smoking pistol over her shoulder, grinning at him in triumph as he was forced to stop, spitting out the silver bullet crossly as they roared away, whooping. He mentally absorbed a map of the road, and his grin returned. They would have to pass Police Girl. He quickly instructed her, and she reluctantly agreed, moving into position.

* * *

"Take that vampire!" Argentum shouted, whooping as the man in red vanished from our hindsight. He slid the emergency pistol back into the holster, and I grinned, sliding mine back as well. "Tonight's our biggest headcount in ages." I said neutrally, sliding the bike back into the proper lane. Wouldn't do if some police people started yelling at us. I hated beating up law and order people, since we were technically on the same side. "Yeah, it's always a lot more when we use you as bait." He said, punching my shoulder. I rolled my eyes. "Brother dear, I find it a lot more fun when we use you as bait." He pouted at me through the rearview mirror, and I stifled a grin. "But I'm the only one who can pull off a vampire act. Bla Arum, bla!" he said, eyes shifting to red and body growing icy at my back, baring his fangs at me in a playful grin.

I elbowed him and he winced, eyes fading back to chocolate brown and body regaining its heat, teeth shrinking. "Ow." I rolled my eyes. "And that's the problem with your disguise Argen. You lose the glamour the instant you feel pain or are startled. Unlike _me_, who can hold it how long…" He scowled, folding his arms and pouting. "Two freaking days, oh my smug and smarty-pants big sis." I giggled, reaching over my shoulder and patting his head. "Good boy." I teased, and he spluttered, slapping my hand away in annoyance. I grinned and turned on our radio. "Oh, it's our favorite!" I squealed, and his gloomy face brightened. "_I got this feeling on a summer day when you were gone, I crashed my car into a bridge, I watched, I let it burn! I threw your stuff into a bag and pushed it down the stairs, I crashed my car into a bridge, I DON'T CARE! I LOVE IT! I DON'T CARE! I got this feeling on a summer day when you were gone, I crashed my car into a bridge, I watched, I let it burn!_" We sang along happily, feeling the wind tangle in my hair and make our clothes snap and flutter.

Bright police lights and sirens were flashing a little down the road, and I turned it off, making Argen pout and reach past me to turn it back on. "No, we gotta look responsible and cultured. We'll turn it back on after we're out of hearing range." I reprimanded, and he sat back, folding his arms in a state of high sulk. Suddenly there was a deep boom, and I had time to almost tip the bike horizontal as an anti-tank round shot past us and detonated in the bushes on the other side of the road. I sped up, dodging more rounds, feeling them batter the earth around us. "Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad!" I muttered, eyes questing for our sniper. "Eat silver vamperic freak!" Argen snarled, firing off several bullets from his pistol, and the shots ceased for a second as he reloaded. "Keep it up Argen or we're roadkill!" I hissed, revving the engine and making the bike shoot forward abruptly. "Aww, can't my sis dodge a wee cannon barrage?" he teased, cocking the pistol right next to my ear.

"Can't my brother hit a wee cannon sniper?" I asked sweetly, and he snarled, firing rapidly into the darkness, making the cannon shots stop once more. I ducked, the recoil blast ringing in my ears for a second before I adjusted, flattening myself against the bike to cut down on wind resistance and speeding faster. "Apparently not." He said calmly, reloading again rapidly. I gulped. "Well then what are the chances of me dodging a cannon barrage?" I asked nervously, seeing the lights up ahead, so close, so agonizingly close… "Not very good at all." He growled, pulling out our second pistol and tucking it into my backpack. He fired into the darkness and I still miraculously managed to dodge the shots, but they were coming closer and closer. Argen loaded his gun instantly, firing into the night again as he frantically stripped the bike, stuffing everything portable into our backpacks.

"We are in trouble…" he muttered, dumping the spent casings on the road, but not finding any more. I nodded as he flattened himself against me, gunning the bike to its full speed as we hurled forward, barely in control as I hung on for dear life. The speedomometer clicked past a hundred…hundred and ten…hundred and twenty…hundred and forty…hundred fifty. MAX OUT. I sighed, shaking my head. We weren't going to make it. KABOOM! The bike exploded beneath us, sending me flying as a blast of heat, light, and sound scorched the inside of my eyelids, a shockwave flinging me into the thorny branches of a holly bush. I blearily opened my eyes, ears ringing from the concussive trauma. Argen scrambled over to me, but his words were muffled and slurred.

I blinked, world coming back into focus, hearing becoming sharp once more. "C'mon let's go! Are the vials good?" he shouted, yanking me to my feet. I nodded rapidly, hearing them clink inside the waterproof, heatproof, bulletproof, pretty-much-anything-proof fabric of my backpack. We started running, and I wheezed, holding a hand to my side where a large piece of what was probably our bike had stabbed into my gut. "Move it move it move it move it!" I snarled, running faster, outpacing him slightly as we ran towards the lights. We pounded into a circle of startled police officers, or soldiers, whatever, no time for chatting or introductions as we leaped over a car and skidded under a van, stopping for a second as Argen hotwired a bike and leaped on, me waving in apology to the cops as they shouted after us, clutching him tightly around the waist as we zoomed off into the night.

_***Time Skip***_

"God…" I hissed, nails digging into the couch as Argen wrenched the twisted metal from my gut, letting it clatter to the floor and handing me a wet washcloth. "Yeah…" he said quietly, yanking an even larger piece of metal from his shoulder and sitting down beside me, dabbing at the wound with some water of his own. We sat in silence, shrapnel still piercing much of our bodies as we simply accepted the fact we were still alive and cleaned our wounds. I held a vial of the precious potion in one hand, waiting for the dizziness to start so I could drink. "You ever…" he said suddenly, but trailed off, not finishing. "It wasn't one of our smartest moves." I said dryly, and one corner of his mouth twitched upwards.

Suddenly my head swam and the aching wounds flared, burning more pain into my body as I gasped and arched. With shaking hands I quickly uncorked the vial, limbs convulsing as I shoved it in my mouth, gulping it down swiftly as my throat seized up, then relaxed. My wounds faded and in fact vanished. The dizziness rushed past as suddenly as it had came, my twitching arms and legs flopping back to the previous position. The bitter, yet sweet, liquid pooled in my stomach, making me sigh as it quickly dissolved into my body, letting me live another day. I glanced at Argen, whose eyes were watering. "It gets harder every time…" he whispered, turning his face away. "Oh come on Argen, I am _not_ letting you waste time moaning about how sad this all is." I snapped, and he flinched.

"What's done is done, and being sad won't change it." I said firmly as I spotted his body starting to tremble. "Now take your medicine." He smirked, falling back as he lifted the vial to his mouth, letting me guide his hand as it relaxed, swallowing the potion eagerly. "I hate you, you know that?" he said weakly, twitching as it worked through his system, then sitting up, looking as vibrant as I felt. "Yeah, I know. What do you want for dinner?" I said, flipping off the couch and landing in a perfect ninja crouch by the kitchen door, then straightening and pushing my thick black hair away from my forehead and turning back to hear his response. He grinned lazily, running a hand through his short and messy black hair in thought. "Meh, make what you want. I shall dutifully hold down the couch and watch some TV." He chuckled, flicking the remote up and catching it, already rapidly flipping through channels as I went to the kitchen and started clattering.

A few minutes later I spun a full plate into the room, seeing him catch it in one hand absently and set it down, then exclaim in my direction "Oh hey look, we're on TV. "Two violent and possibly mentally disturbed teens stole a bike from private government agency Hellsing last night, and made off with it in a west-southwest direction, subjects are armed and dangerous" Gee, when are the people on TV news reports that stole things _not_ dangerous? Channel change, now." I heard a click and rolled my eyes. "You're a very strange young man." I told him, bouncing a full glass off my bicep into his hand and sitting down next to him, swallowing some milk of my own as he belched. "They say you can pick your friends but you can't pick your family." He said cheerfully, slinging an arm over my shoulder and squeezing me tightly.

"I'll disown you." I told him, shoving him off playfully and quickly digging into my food, chuckling as he pouted and did the same almost instantly. "Ow 'han 'ou 'isown 'e 'f ere's honly hwo 'f us?" he asked, and I blinked. "What?" He swallowed and tried again. "How can you disown me if there's only two of us?" I snorted. "I go down to the legal office and say I don't want you anymore…" he poked me with his fork. "That's adoption and pets." I tried again. "I go down to the legal office and say you're a horrible relative and I never want to see you again…" He choked on his food, swallowing and then laughing hysterically "That's…divorce…" he gasped, holding his stomach and howling with laughter. I pretended to think, biting my lip. "I cut your throat and tie up, disposing of the evidence in the nearest river, right next to the legal office."

He fell on the ground, convulsing with laughter, tears pouring from his eyes. "That's…murder…" he panted, wheezing and grinning. I pulled him up, hugging him in a vice grip. "Frick. Then I guess I'm stuck with you, ya madcap goof." I said happily, watching absently as he clawed at my hands, then letting go and giggling as he wheezed, sucking in air desperately. "To the VERY bitter end…" he said, weakly punching his fist in the air and smirking up at me. I grinned, bumping my fist against his. "And the even more miserable existence." We both laughed, innocently and loudly, just two ordinary siblings messing around. Ignoring the bullet-ridden objects scattered everywhere, the flickering and unstable lights, the worn and tiny furniture, the unsatisfactory meal of an apple and a sandwich. The alchemy vials gleaming in their pockets, waiting to be used again, the bullet cartridges scattered carelessly across our one table, and knives, swords, daggers, and other blades hung neatly on the walls, alternating with explosives and guns. Just two, simple, ordinary siblings.

* * *

I watched as Integra ranted. Apparently although Police Girl had indeed succeeded in shooting the bike down, the two teens had miraculously gotten up almost instantly, and proceeded to have the cohesiveness and skill to dodge the mercenaries and hot-wire another bike to get them out. Needless to say, Integra was both interested and furious. "And where were you when this was all going down?" she snapped, looking at me sharply. I held up the silver bullet in explanation. "_Pure_ silver. Not even the tiniest ingratiation of other metals, and triple blessed. This can easily stop even me dead in my tracks for a limited amount of time." I said, grudgingly respectful of the unknown teens' skills.

She blinked. "How could they get so much silver as to cast bullets of that purity!?" she spluttered, and I shrugged. "I don't know master. But I doubt we will find records of anything stolen. These children, although young, are highly skilled." I said, folding my arms with heavy finality. Police Girl nodded, gasping as she shifted the ice pack on her side. A silver bullet had grazed her, and she was attempting to heal it. "Drink some blood and that agony you feel now will stop." I snapped at her, cross that our prey had gotten away. She whimpered and nodded, hanging her head and walking away to get a blood pack, limping slightly to accommodate for her wound. I growled, both in annoyance at her self-pity and remembering the smug grin the girl had tossed over her shoulder as she sped away, silver bullet sending burning pain throughout my body.

* * *

The rumble of the bike slowed and died, and I jabbed the kickstand down, hopping off along with Argen. We walked in, and I sighed at the familiar reek of gunpowder and burnt metal. "We need as many gun cartridges for this gun as this pays for." I said, slapping a few hundred dollars down on the table and pushing one of our twin pistols across the counter. The man examined it, then reached behind the counter, pilling a very satisfactory amount of bullets on the glass, swiping the bills into his cash register at the same moment. I loaded the gun and stowed it as Argen hung around the very front, keeping an eye on the street as I piled the casings neatly in our shared ammunition pack. I was zipping it up as the man suddenly said "You know, you two look familiar…and that's a nice bike you got out there…"

My head whipped up as I heard the soft click of a gun being cocked, and saw a pistol, hidden from Argen's sight, aimed directly for my face. "Now let's have a nice chat about where you got it while we wait for the police to arrive." He said quietly, flicking me a warning glance as I opened my mouth. I closed it, softly tapping my fingers against the counter. One two one two. There was a sudden, louder click, and Argen's gun was aimed straight for the shop owner, cold brown eyes gleaming at him from the shadow of his hair. "Put the gun down before I hurt you." He growled, and the shop owner scoffed. "What's the bet I can pull the trigger faster?" Quicker than a striking snake I lunged, elbow cracking against his jaw as I wrenched the weapon out of his hands, backing away and thumbing the safety as I blew a strand of hair out of my eyes. "Very, very low." I said, grinning.

He paled, and we started backing away, guns still held out to him warningly. "Please…it's a very important gun…" he whispered pathetically, reaching out involuntarily for mine. I flicked a quick glance down. Very old, but still serviceable. An etched nameplate. Pretty ornamental work. Probably a family heirloom then. I expertly cracked the gun, spilling the casings and tossing it back. He caught it, muttering something and checking it for something, possibly fingerprints. "We technically haven't broken the law yet." I said calmly as he tucked it away. "We've paid for our bullets. We've only threatened you after you threatened us. I'd like you to keep that in mind for your next customer." I said, turning away and walking out of the door, Argen still holding the gun unwaveringly at the man.

He backed out, and I heard whispers as his gun was spotted, but we ignored that as we hopped on the bike and I revved the engine. Argen put the gun away, and I lurched forward, the engine purring to life. Suddenly there was a shot and we both ducked, but I was the one the person was aiming for, and gasped as the bullet tore through my neck. Argen snarled and whipped around, firing five rounds into the man before grabbing the handles and tearing away, pressing up against me as I choked out blood, felling the cold metal bullet lodged in my throat. I coughed, feeling like I was going to vomit, my vision spinning as I slumped, panting and wheezing as blood dripped continuously from my mouth and nose through the long, LONG ride.

I was suddenly scooped up and carried in, dumped on our couch and left there, then feeling someone push me up. "It's in you good sis. We can't get it out until tonight." Argen said in anguish, and I tapped a finger on his leg, demanding pencil and paper. They were pressed into my hand, and I wrote without looking, another skill we had picked up over the years. "_Argen, you damn idiot, did you leave the engine running?_" He yelped and scrambled out, and I heard the humming roar grind to a stop, him coming back in and sitting opposite me on the floor. "_Most people would be screaming by now. This serum's really something, isn't it?_" He laughed sadly, looking at me and wincing. Seeing your sister with blood gushing from her throat, shot through the neck, was probably not a comforting image. "_Don't just sit there man, turn the TV on NOW!_" I scribbled, and he chortled, flicking through the channels rapidly.

I would have sighed in relief, but it would probably make a horrible gurgling sound. Another gloom fit avoided. My stomach rumbled, and we both looked at it in confusion. "Umm…" Argen said, scratching his head. "_Frick. Can we please try shoving something past the bullet, I'm STARVING…_" I scribbled out, looking up at him pleadingly. He raised an eyebrow and I blushed. "_Fine, what time is it?_" He looked at the one still-working clock on the wall. "11:46 AM." I groaned, which actually came out as intended, putting a slightly bloody hand on my face. He chuckled, shaking his head sadly as he spilled the bullets out on the table, cracking his knuckles and preparing to get to work. He half-closed his eyes, muttering something as his hands and the bullets beneath them started to glow a dull grey and his eyes rolled up in his head, only the whites showing as he clenched his teeth with effort.

They stopped, and he moved on, slowly leaving a trail of pure silver bullets in his wake, taking a deep breath at the end and wiping away sweat mere physical activity would never cause. I clapped slightly in approval, and he grinned at me tiredly. "Right, let's get these puppies blessed and start shooting vampires!" he cheered, bringing the table over and sitting down across from me. He was meticulous, blessing each and every one singly, and I waited until he was done before holding my hand out, blessing it in silence, trying to pour as much of my power into it as I could to make up for the lack of sound, moving through the lot carefully. Then Argen linked hands with mine, and we held our entwined hands over the already blessed silver, blessing it for the third and final time as each one glowed for a heartbeat before dulling. I sighed, which _did_ come out as a wet gurgle, when we were done and he loaded them back up, evenly distributing them between our guns. "Now we have to do that about seven or eight more times." He joked, and I groaned, holding up one hand in silent approval to go on, but inwardly cursing as we started blessing the next lot.

_***Time Skip***_

I felt the dull tingle flooding my body again, and hacked, pain tearing through my neck as I registered the bullet like it had hit me again, blood fountaining out of my mouth, wound, and dripping from my nose as I gagged on my own life force, spitting it out rapidly as Argen waited and then shoved the vial in my mouth, and I swallowed desperately, clinging to his wrist with both hands as the life-giving liquid streamed down my throat, trickling past the bullet. Suddenly I convulsed, hacking, and something dull and metal shot out of my mouth, pinging and clattering away into the shadowy corners of our room as I heaved in the first gasp of air, chest rising and falling rapidly. "Damn…" I croaked, sitting up and rubbing my throat, not even a faint scar where seconds before there had been an open wound.

"Yeah. Damn." Argen said hollowly, picking the bloody and crumpled lead bit up, showing it to me silently. "No. That isn't the one that hit me. The one that hit me was a billion times bigger, on fire, and had tiny little barbs sticking out from it. It must have scuttled under the couch." I said, sitting up and jabbing a finger at the offending bullet. He inspected it, raising an eyebrow at me and smirking. "Arum, my dear, sweet big sister, you're a wuss." He snorted, chucking it at me. I caught it, laughing. "You try getting shot through the neck and not saying it hurt!" I pretended to splutter, throwing it back. He narrowed his eyes, and we spent the next half hour chucking the bullet at each other, finally ending up crouched behind the upturned table and couch, peering at each other around corners. Something small and hard struck my ankle, and I wailed, clutching it as the spent bullet clinked off into the darkness. "AH! I'VE BEEN SHOT BY AN IDIOT!" I wailed, bucking and writhing in pretended pain. We both burst out laughing, gasping for air and rolling on the ground, another happily ending night.

* * *

I sighed in boredom as Integra interrogated the man who had reportedly shot one of the teens. He had been shot five times, once in each wrist, ankle, and once right between his legs. He had been very desperate about the last one. I chuckled softly, remembering his pathetic begging for them to fix it. Integra came back out, and I raised an eyebrow in silent query. "He did hit one. I've confirmed that. Reportedly, they came into his shop asking for some ordinary lead bullets, bought them before he recognized them, and then left after he aimed a gun at them. He was able to reload it before they escaped and shot at them in warning, but they ducked as he did so and it pierced what seems to be the girl's neck. She's probably dead. Her accomplice promptly turned and fired the five shots before gunning the bike and leaving the scene."

I grinned. "They would have left a blood trail." She nodded, smirking. "Take Seras and capture him. No lethal force unless forced." I scowled a little at the last one, but nodded and phased away eagerly enough. After picking up Police Girl, we went back to the shop and I started following the blood, which the girl was kind enough to drip liberally. A problem arose as soon as we got into a more rural area. The blood stopped. No more drips, not a single one. The bike had not stopped, nor had it even slowed. The tire tracks, which had also a large amount of blood on them, continued without the telltale pooling even a second's stop would entail. It was as if the girl had suddenly vanished. I shrugged and followed the tracks further, but eventually the blood had dried and the tracks disappeared as well.

The smell still lingered, but that only got us a few hundred meters further before the bike veered off the road and splashed through a stream, washing both blood and smell off completely before moving on. I scowled deeply, feeling for a life force of blood. There was several around, but the most promising was one farther from the others by a considerable amount, and without pausing grabbed Police Girl's arm and phased there. Once the world solidified, I grinned. The stolen bike was parked outside. That was promising. The door opened, and the female walked out. I was still with shock a second too long, and her sharp eyes immediately went to my red and Police Girl's yellow clothes, out of place in the forest and bush. I aimed the Casull at her, but she jumped away, landing a few feet closer to the bike and hissing at me. "Vampire!" she screamed, drawing a pistol and firing it rapidly, forcing both me and Police Girl to dodge.

Those blessed silver bullets would be lethal to Police Girl. They would incapacitate me for at least five minutes. We couldn't afford to let her have a kill shot. Just as her champers clicked empty, another shot forced me to duck as the boy advanced, guns blazing as his associate rapidly reloaded, finishing just as _he_ ran out. She switched with him, firing on the both of us as he reloaded, a very practiced dance. These two knew how to fight vampires, and were clearly very practiced at teamwork. "Argen!" she roared, dropping the gun and streaking forward unexpectedly. I jerked back slightly, startled at this reckless move, and was slammed back more, her foot connecting solidly with my jaw. She dropped in a precise crouch, then moved up to punch my chest. I hissed, feeling bones break under the force of that punch. These were not humans, no matter how much they smelled like them. No human could pack a punch that heavy. Not even Anderson came close.

The boy ran back inside, then came out almost instantly, carrying those huge packs and absently slamming Police Girl down, knocking her out temporarily as he slung his bag over his shoulder and called to the girl "Arum! C'mon let's get gone!" She nodded, panting a little as she hammered into me, slamming me into a tree as I gritted my teeth and hit her back, making her wince slightly. She spun, feet neatly catching my chin again, catching something that was dull and wooden and slamming it into my heart as I choked, blood fountaining out of my mouth. She snarled, punching the stake, and it drove deeper, pinning me to the tree. The end was broad, like a mushroom cap, and there was no way I could've pulled away like a normal stake. She grinned at me, wiping her bloody hands on her pants and streaking off, leaping on the bike with her brother and roaring off, dust churning in their wake as I snarled in helpless rage.

* * *

"None of that fatal injuries nonsense this time?" Argen asked teasingly, sliding the bike around a slow moving car. I giggled in his ear. "Not a one you big jerk!" I said, lightly punching his shoulder. We both laughed, not a care in the world as we drove down the highway. "Did we forget anything at the house?" I asked in worry, and he laughed. "Don't be so stupid! I got everything, vials, weapons, drawings, cards, every last thing we came with!" I sighed in relief, leaning against him. We didn't set much stock in material goods, but there were some things precious to our hearts. And necessary to our survival. Besides, the house wasn't even ours, like so many of the dwellings we had used over the years. As long as we weren't in it the vampires could blow the place to kingdom come for all we cared.

Argen started fiddling with buttons, looking for the radio. "Ah, here we go." He said, switching it on and flipping to our favorite channel. "_There's a place downtown where the freaks all come around, it's a hole in the wall, it's a dirty free for all!_" We sang along as the bike roared, thrumming between our legs as the powerful engine ate up the miles. I flicked out a road map. "Let's see now…if I were a vampire, where would I go…" I broke off from the song for a moment, thinking and wincing as Argen's off-key voice grated on my ears. "We're going just outside of London. And we're not doing it as humans." I told him, folding my arms and the map. He tapped a finger on the handles of the bike, thinking and turning the sound off as an afterthought.

"Werewolf?" I thought it over, then shook my head. "Full moon's tonight." We both winced and shook our heads. "And we can't be vampires or else Big, Red, and Fangy will come after us even easier." He added, and I nodded rapidly. "But…" I said, biting my lip. He sighed, smacking his head against the bike. "_But_..." I sighed. "We don't have any other options, because no way in hell are we going to show our true forms. That's just begging for trouble with a capital NOW." He groaned, shaking his head sadly. "Damn. Vampire it is then."

_***Time Skip***_

I peeked in the mirror, seeing my eyes bright and red, poking at my long fangs curiously. It always felt so strange not to have a heartbeat, or body heat, or need to breath. Argen sighed next to me, sipping a blood pack we had "borrowed" from the hospital earlier. We both had the munchies, but obviously weren't going to bite someone. Honestly, we were a bit afraid to. What would happen if you were bitten by a not-even-vampire vampire? Bad, bad things, we didn't doubt. So we sipped a blood pack. I snatched it from him, draining the last half rapidly. I burped, licking my lips and sticking my longer tongue at him as we both chuckled. I stretched, feeling very awake indeed, even though it was past midnight._ Comes of being a vampire I guess._ Suddenly all the lights flared up, even the ones we hadn't turned on, and we grabbed our weapons immediately.

"Midians, come out! We know you're in there!" An imperious voice echoed from the hotel speakers, and we blinked at each other. Midians…the euphemism for vampires? Oops. We forgot about vampire hunters. I pressed the intercom button on our wall "Uh, yeah, about that, give us a sec…" I muttered into it, and we quickly strapped on weapons. Obviously, we hadn't unpacked at all, and I slung my pack over one shoulder as we walked out the door, trying futilely to turn off the lights for politeness's sake, but shrugging and giving up after a moment. I opened the door to the hallway, going first with pistol cocked and at the ready, Argen following behind me and keeping his gun pointed in the opposite direction. With my vampire senses I discover a whole bunch of armed men in the room up ahead, and tapped my heel against Argen's twice.

He stopped and I knocked the door once before slamming it open. A whole crowd of mercenaries aimed guns at me, and I held up my hands, still holding a pistol in my right one. "Gentlemen, I apologize deeply, profusely, and sincerely beforehand for what I am about to do to you." I said calmly, then swung into action. My gun flashed as another leaped into my hand, and I emptied the barrels of both, making twelve of the men scream and collapse on the ground, curled in a fetal position with both hands tucked between their legs. The rest wavered and I had time to drop the guns, two more flashing into being as I rapidly fired into the next dozen, taking them down and out. There was only one who I judged to be the leader left standing as I dropped the second pair, barrels smoking as wails and whimpers filled the room. I pulled out one last pistol, aiming it directly where I had aimed the last times. "Don't worry." I said and he flinched, eyes widening as he paled. "If you flinch right you might _not_ be castrated well into your next life."

He blanched and ran out the door, and I chuckled, holstering the gun and reloading my other four as I whistled to Argen. "All clear." He stepped in, shaking his head sadly at the sight of all the men on the ground. "You my dear sis, are a total sadist." He scolded me as we stepped over the moaning and writhing bodies, and I grinned. "Daw, you're just saying that to make me blush. I hit them on the inside of the leg, just like always. It just _feels_ like a crotch shot. By the time most of them realize it isn't we're long gone, am I right?" he nodded grudgingly as we got into position again, walking further down the hallway to the doors. "I still think you're playing on that fear too much." I sighed as we kicked down another door, this time with nobody in the room. "It's a sensitive point on the human body that is extremely common and if you _do_ miss they won't die, at least physically. Mentally is a whole different story." I said, humming a little.

"True enough, but I think you enjoy it. Oh, sniper." I ducked as a bullet whizzed by my head, shattering the glass of the window we were passing conveniently. "SUCK KNOCKOUT JUICE YOU SNEAKY BASTARD!" I roared, hurling a sleeping dart at the figure on the opposite building, seeing him crumple in satisfaction. Argen chuckled as we moved towards the lobby, shaking his head. "You have a very violent temper when you're annoyed." He said, shouldering a door open as we switched off. "I can't help it. I've been blown up, shot, and now my teeth itch. I hate turning vamp." I grumbled, itching the offending fangs but doing nothing. "Seriously? Itchy fangs? That's a new one…" he said, tapping my heel twice. I waited as he slammed the door open, hearing gunshots and watching the hallway with an intent hawk-like gaze, seeing no movement or enemies. A whistle was heard and I backed into the room, closing and locking the doors behind us.

Argen was standing in the midst of a bunch of groaning men, grinning and spinning his pistol on a finger as I noted the fist marks on each man's forehead. "Heh. And you say I'm sadistic." I said teasingly as he holstered the weapon, smirking at me casually. "They were mere love taps." He protested, grinning as we walked out of that room, and I snickered. "I doubt they thought so." I said, cocking my gun as we switched off again, scanning the brightness ahead. He shrugged behind me, probably grinning still. "Such a pessimist you are." I kicked the next door down, walking in the room slowly. "I'm not a pessimist I'm a supernatural optimist." We both chuckled over that and moved on. "Isn't there no such thing?" he muttered teasingly, and we both burst out laughing. "S-stop you bastard we're on a j-job…" I gasped, eyes watering. We each took a deep breath and moved on, and I stopped, sensing a very powerful vampire up ahead.

We glanced at each other. "You don't think…" I began, looking at the looming doors to the lobby. "It couldn't be…" he added, edging away. In unison we both shrugged and smashed through the doors, splitting up and running in opposite directions as gun blast echoed off the marble walls and floor. I saw it was indeed Big Red himself, scowling deeply as he sent a barrage of bullets at both of us. "Argen! Serpentine!" I shouted, running straight for the vampire as he switched direction, running back the way he had came. The vampire's black gun followed me as his silver one traced Argen, and I grinned, vaulting right past his startled face as Argen suddenly darted to his other side, landing identical blows on his solar plexus. He snarled, but fell to his knees, us darting out into the night, snatching a bike and quickly hot-wiring the engine, roaring off as he howled his rage after us, but was unable to get up in time to stop us.

"YOU SUCK AT FOLLOWING A TARGET!" Argen shouted back at him, and I sighed, shaking my head as I swerved to avoid a large black limo. "He's pissed enough as it is by the sound of it, do we ready need him madder at us?" I asked as we roared past, nodding to the driver absently. Before he could answer a gunshot cracked, and we both ducked, a bullet breezing past my cheek as I gaped, seeing the limo spin and scream after us, a woman leaning out of the passenger seat and aiming a pistol at our tires. "Oh hell no!" I shouted back at her, doing a stoppie (basically a wheelie, but on the front tire, for you poor people who've never ridden a bike) so the bullet pinged off the tarmac instead of our nice, moving bike. "Argen!" I hissed, flipping around so I was facing the other direction, letting him grab the bike handles and gun the engine as I aimed over his shoulder for _her_ tires.

"Eat silver!" I shouted, shooting both front tires and one back one, missing the last as the car skidded wildly, and I grinned, flipping back over and grabbing the bike myself. Suddenly there was a _fwish_ and the bike _**splintered**_ under us, engine blowing as we skidded across the tarmac. I rolled to a stop, hissing in pain as I felt my skin scrubbed away by the abrasive surface. "Argen!" I called, sitting up and looking around. He grabbed my arm and we staggered up, running as fast as we could, waiting for the pain to numb. I felt it first, strides lengthening and speed increasing, looking over my shoulder to whistle encouragingly at Argen. He nodded, catching up, and we streaked through the night, feet pounding on the concrete as we fled the people who seemed to want to kill us very badly indeed. I felt a tingle in my chest, and my heart froze. "CRAP!" I snarled, wrenching my backpack open and fumbling for a vial. Argen swore as well, grabbing an extra of his and shoving it in my hand.

I gulped it down as he swallowed his, tingle fading, then stopping as we continued running, my heart slamming in my chest. That had been close…WHAM. My head met concrete, and I yelped as my face grinded across gravel and rock, skin tearing and bleeding. "That's for shooting me!" a voice in my ear hissed, and I gulped, struggling against his grip as Argen roared, pistols firing rapidly. My head was wrenched up, then slammed down again, harder. "That's for staking me!" he snarled, lifting my head from the crater as my face dripped blood onto the cracked ground. I was slammed down again, crying out as my skull cracked and my vision swam for a second before correcting itself, head clearing. "That's…" I was pulled up, and felt cold breath against my neck. "For making me look like a pathetic idiot!" He chomped down, and I gasped, eyes swiveling as I searched for Argen, heart sinking as I saw the female vampire standing above him, huge cannon pressed to the small of his back.

I grimaced, waiting for one of our final defenses to kick in. The only thing that might hinder us was time…the more blood l lost, the harder it was going to be to move quickly. He grunted, grip relaxing as he struggled to remain conscious, finally wrenching his fangs out of my neck and spitting my blood out on the ground, choking and hacking as the poisonous liquid seared his throat. I freed myself, streaking towards Argen as the vampiress stared helplessly at the man, leveling her with a good right hook and hauling Argen to his feet. We streaked off again, my neck burning before deadening, blood ceasing its incessant dripping as I licked my lips, feeling the searing pain begin to recede.

* * *

I was going to kill that girl. And her brother. I snarled quietly to myself as I phased after them, grinning in triumph as I saw them stumble and slow, pawing something out of their backpacks and swallowing, slowing for the crucial moments I needed to catch them. I slammed the girl's head into the concrete, feeling the satisfying shock travel up my arm as she gave a muffled yelp, clawing at the ground frantically. "That's for shooting me!" I snarled in her ear, then slammed her face back down, grinding her across the tarmac as her brother held off Police Girl, half-focused on his partner. "That's for staking me!" I hissed, lifting her up, pleased to note her skin was broken and bleeding heavily. I slammed her into the tiny crater I had made, hearing her bone crack slightly. "That's…" I growled, pulling her against me as I got ready to bite. "For making me look like a pathetic idiot!" I roared, biting into her deeply as she gasped involuntarily.

I started to drain her savagely, grimacing at the foul taste of her blood. It was like sour vinegar in my mouth. Then…then it was actually _fizzing_, like one of those cokes the mercenaries drank. I grunted in pain as the consistency suddenly turned acidic, eating at my tender mouth and throat until I could stand it no longer, letting go and spitting the foul stuff out, hacking it up to purge myself of this…this _poison_. She wrenched out of my grip, but I could only kneel, coughing out more blood until I rid myself of the burning liquid. I looked up in time to see her run off with her partner and hissed in rage. "Master…" Police Girl said tremulously, reaching out for me. "I am…" I snarled, making her jerk back as my fist clenched. "…going to _slaughter_ those two humans…" I growled, eyes flaring red with my anger.

* * *

"No fatals?" Argen asked, touching my face gently. I shook my head. "Just a skull crack and a whole bunch of rubbed off skin, as well as a broken nose. Bite's already gone." I said, inspecting the wound in satisfaction. He nodded, hugging me suddenly. "I am going to kill that vamperic bastard. _No one _hurts my sister." he muttered into my hair, and I sighed, hugging him back. "Relax buddy. No going loco with a shotgun. I'm fine, and I deserve at least a few hits on Big Red before you kill him." I said, and he pulled away, grinning. His face fell a little though, and he shuffled his feet. "Yeah…but you were _bitten_ sis. BITTEN. I can't afford to lose you." He whispered, looking up at me hesitantly. I smiled at him reassuringly, touching his arm lightly. "I won't die if it kills me. You need looking after, ya crazy bastard. No, which side would you say is my good one, right or left?" I said, and mimed a movie star, making us both laugh.

He pulled a hoodie out of his backpack and I put it on, pulling it low over my scraped face as we slipped into an old warehouse, leaning back in the musty, dusty dry air, heaving a sigh of relief. I pulled it back, closing my eyes and letting the vampire form drop at long last, knowing he was doing the same. He probably had already, come to think of it. "Ammo count?" I asked, opening one eye. "Seventy percent. All weapons accounted for and undamaged." I sighed in relief. "Vials?" He chortled. "Every last jingling one of them safe and sound." I grinned a little. "Anything in our own little world that is possibly wrong right now?" He thought for a moment. "Can I have a pony?" We both burst out laughing, eyes tearing up as I chuckled, gasping for air. "No, we have…uh…we _had_ a bike. Well, I know what we're doing tomorrow."

_***Time Skip***_

"No. No, _non_, _nyet_, _nein_, and in all POSSIBLE ways NO!" he roared, and I sighed. "Argen, we both know the instant Jane and Joe public see my face it'll be a veritable hail of questions, and now we know Big Red has a whole vamp hunting gang all lined up and looking for us. I'm betting some of the men I crotch-shot are _dying_ to have a little chat with me." I said tartly, tapping a foot as he paced the warehouse floor. "Wear a freaking mask or something, but I'm not letting you stay here alone!" I gritted my teeth as he kept pacing. "Argentum!" I barked, and he froze. I had just used what constituted to a full name for us. We _never_ spoke of our last name. "You're being too emotional. There is no logical reason why I should come with you that doesn't have a whole bunch of downsides and extra steps attached to it." I explained somewhat angrily, and he sighed, running his hands through his black locks.

"I know, it's just…I don't want you to get hurt again…" he said weakly, looking down at his scuffed boots. I sighed. "I'll be fine, you'll be fine, we'll both be fine. Now go buy me a nice new bike and make it a fast one." I said, lightly pushing him towards the doors and sitting back down, returning to my self-appointed task. I was multiplying bullets, which was a lot harder than simply changing the metal and blessing it. By the time Argen came back with a bike, I was panting, and my shirt was soaked, but we were once again armed completely when I hopped on the bike. We turned on the music, and I sighed. "Is there any other channel?"

"_Like a gift from the heavens it was easy to tell, there was love from above that could save me from hell, she had fire in her soul it was easy to see, and the devil himself could be pulled out of me! There were drums in the air as she started to dance, every soul in the room keeping time with their hands, and we sang eh-away-away-away, and our voices rang like the angels sing, and we sang-_" I sighed, clicking it off. "I hate it when romance music comes on." I said over my shoulder, and he nodded, making a face. We drove on in silence, and I blinked, seeing a road block. We skidded to a stop, engine rumbling. The officer approached us, and I licked my lips nervously. "How did you get those wounds?" he asked in suspicion and I shrugged, pretending to wince. "Bike accident. I'm going to the hospital now, if you would be so kind…" I made a slight shooing motion with one gloved hand.

He nodded slowly, glancing at Argen. "Your story?" He raised an eyebrow. "Can't family members help their relations in these troubled times? We siblings need to stick together." He said, squeezing my waist affectionately. The man nodded, motioning for the blockade to be moved. "Thanks Mr. You take care now." I said, lifting the kickstand and letting the engine purr to life. He nodded absently, and we suppressed smirks as we thundered by, wind once again snapping our clothes and sending my hair flying. We managed to keep from laughing until out of hearing range, and then we caved, shrieking hysterically and letting laughter tears pour down our faces. We composed ourselves a few miles away, and my stomach rumbled. "Lunch break!" I chirped, swerving into a fast food joint. We parked the bike, and I swung my pack over one shoulder as I noted the nice big crowd of people asking for something. We walked up to the counter, and suddenly Argen tapped my heel three times. We knew someone here.

"Stop kicking me, I'm hungry too." I hissed quietly back, the single that yes, I got his signal. My eyes darted around the room, and a cold chill of fear ran down my spine. 99.9 percent of the people here were ones we had seen last night, and they clearly recognized us. The only reason we weren't being shot at yet is they couldn't believe we had just walked into the same restaurant. A man in a braid that I had threatened and was most likely the leader was inconspicuously tapping out a number on a cell that would most likely call Big Red here post-haste. Well, this was all kinds of oops. I nodded absently to them all as we placed an order, tapping a finger on the counter as the confused counter person, somehow sensing the attitude in the room, fumbled for our stuff.

He handed the paper bags and we tucked them in our backpacks with a quiet thank you. The whole mood changed even more. They were edging towards the exits, warning us with their eyes. _You ain't getting out if we have anything to say about it_. That was what those glares said, and we paused for a moment, and I dropped to one knee, pretending to lace my shoe. "Evening…fellas…" I said, grinning and tying a neat bow, and Argen used my back as a springboard, launching himself out of the window, shattering it as alarms started up. The men were stunned for a moment by our synchronization, and I used that moment, sprinting for the hole he had made. That roused them and I was ground to a halt, fists and feet lashing out like a ninja whose been jumped by a whole crowd of samurai. I didn't particularly want to _kill_ anyone, but Big Red was most likely on the way and _dying_ to have a nice chat with us. It sure as hell wasn't me going down today. So most of them would probably spend a day or two in the hospital recovering from concussions.

I smashed through the glass, not having time to go to Argen's exit, cuts slashing into my skin like cold fire then abruptly fading, bleeding slowing and stopping. I rolled and came up, streaking for our bike. Suddenly there was a slight sting of pain in my chest, and I was lifted off my feet. It felt like someone had put a harness on and was lifting me. But when I looked down, all I could see was a hand sticking out of my chest, dripping with blood. I managed to twist a little, seeing our old friend in red grinning at me, arm leading to the hand that was currently impaling my heart. "Crap…" was all I could think to say, and his smirk shrunk a little. "YOU DAMN BASTARD!" Argen roared, foot connecting solidly with Big Red's chin, sending him smashing back through the restaurant. He ran back to me, and I gave him a weak peace sign as he helped me up, muttering "I don't think he likes us very much…"

He smirked at me absently, looking back to the smashed in windows and buckled front door. "I don't think we're going to be welcome in that food joint anymore." I chuckled and shook my head, throwing a leg over the bike. Everything responded so slowly to my commands, muscles sluggish without their supply of blood. I gunned the engine, hearing it roar to life. But here came Big Red, looking more pissed than ever, aiming a very large black gun at _me_. I hastily whirled the air into a barrier, and a bullet cracked against the shield I had erected, a flickering blue light surrounding us briefly before vanishing. I groaned, bright lights flaring in my brain. Another crack sounded, and the shield buckled as we screamed away, me nervously trying to support it, because another blast or two…BAM.

Argen choked, something wet and hot dripping onto my back, and I felt his wet chest again my back. "ARGEN!?" I screeched, and he patted my shoulder weakly. " 'S all good here sis." He murmured, resting his head against my shoulderblades as I gritted my teeth, engine rumbling louder and faster. "Damn that vampire to the deepest pits of your laundry basket…" I snarled, swerving around a car. He chuckled weakly, more sticky wetness spreading across my back. "Aw, do we really hate him that much? 'Least we could upgrade to closet space. The poor guy doesn't deserve that kind of torment." I sighed, shaking my head as we weaved through traffic. "May I remind you that he just stuck his freaking hand through my chest and shot you?" I growled, popping a stoppie to avoid the bullet he sent after us.

He was silent for a moment. "Yeah but _laundry basket_? We go straight to that?" He said sadly, and I chuckled, avoiding another gun blast. "Shut up and stop bleeding. I like this shirt." I growled playfully, sliding in a minuscule gap between two sedans and waving to the passengers. He shrugged and we rode in silence for a moment, dodging Big Red's barrage of bullets in contemplative silence. "See if he hadn't gotten us through the hearts we could actually shoot _back_." Argen said in exasperation, and I chuckled. "I'm sure next time he will aim for a less important major organ." I muttered, and he banged his head against my back. "Shut up, you female with your damn _logic_ and cursed _reality_." He hissed, and we both laughed.

* * *

I gritted my teeth, firing rapidly after those two cursed humans as I phased after them. I had gotten these stubborn brats through the heart, why the hell were they still moving!? And…LAUGHING?! _God, the arrogance of those blasted mortals!_ I hissed mentally, seeing them laughing and jibing each other, completely at ease with the hail of bullets I sent after them. The Wild Geese had hastily erected a roadblock with their vans, and the motorcycle was nearing it. The female stopped laughing, to my satisfaction, and cursed. Then she throttled the engine, screaming even faster down the tarmac, much to the bewilderment of the Geese and myself. _Does she think they'll just leap aside?_

"Argen!" she screeched, suddenly shifting on the bike so it was almost level on the ground, slipping through the crack between van and road as she and her brother hunched closer to the wheel, sparks grinding in their wake. I phased through the blockade to see them straighten and whoop, thundering away as the mercenaries all gaped after them. "T-that's…that's…that's just not fair!" Bernadette shouted, stomping his foot on the ground in frustration. Amazingly, one heard him, and the boy turned back in the set and yelled back at us "WE DON'T PLAY FAIR YOU IDOITS!" I growled, itching to shot that stubborn cockroach of a boy again and again and again until there was nothing _left_ to shout with. "_…and , let's go. Destination, to navigation, man up your stations feel the sensation! Surround invasion, with communication, move quick we might avoid contamination. POUND, here comes the SOUND, everyone POUND, you're free to this Phenomenon! Now, let's make it loud, and show them all how, you move to this Phenomenon! Whoa, open your soul, maybe lose CONTROL, inside of this Phenomenon…_" I gaped silently, outraged.

THEY WERE PLAYING MUSIC AND SINGING ALONG!? That was it. I was going to _slaughter _those two brats, _crush_ and _tear_ and _rip_ and _butcher_ those cockroaches of teenage humans. I quickly phased after them, rage simmering deep within my core. "Releasing control on restriction systems 3, 2, 1. Approval of situation A recognized commencing the Cromwell invocation. Ability restrictions lifted for limited use until the enemy has been rendered silent." I snarled, appearing right in front of them. "Oh frick." I heard the girl mutter, and leered at them evilly as the bike skidded to a stop. They knew better than to try and outrun me. "One last thing?" the boy chirped, looking over his partner's shoulder. I raised an eyebrow. He grinned, a reckless, insane, suicidal grin. "We're silent now. You can put away the nastiness." He chuckled, and I snarled, sending a shadow tendril to whip his insolent head off his shoulders.

They split up, moving faster than a human eye could track, and I heard a breathless laugh. "Hey Argen, listen to the song!" The boy laughed wildly, still dodging my attacks. "What a coincidence!" I growled, flailing shadows trying to hack them to bits. "_The world is a scary place, now that you've woken up the demon….IN ME! Get up, c'mon get down with the sickness! Get up, c'mon get down with the sickness! Get up, c'mon get down with the sickness! Open up your hate, and let it flow into me!_" they sang to the pounding rhythm, still managing to avoid my attacks. "SHUT UP AND LET ME KILL YOU!" I roared, and they both snickered. "I'll pass on that Big Red! Being alive is great! You should try it sometime!" The girl shouted happily, and I screeched in rage, chasing her down with a mass of shadows and hellhounds.

I snarled, sending another mass towards the bike, rending it in a screech of metal as the song cut off and the teens growled. "THAT WAS A BRAND NEW BIKE YOU BASTARD!" the girl roared, foot connecting solidly with my chin. "STUMPID VAMP!" the boy snarled, punching my chest hard enough to send me flying again. _Damn these kids and their power-punches._ I choked up a mouthful of blood, spitting it out and punching them back, sending the girl skidding across the tarmac and the boy crunching through a few dozen bushes and brambles. They came up almost instantly, running for me again. I had a moment of grudging respect for these two mortals who could stand on even footing with me, and then they were in too close, right in front of me. I slammed a booted foot into the girl's sternum, cracking her breastbone, and her eyes widened, blood spraying from her mouth as she flew back, rolling across the grass.

Her partner snarled, and I hissed, pivoting and slamming my fist into his chest, doing the same thing as he choked and flew back, hitting a van and indenting the metal deeply. Suddenly the girl twitched, sitting up and spitting out some blood, wiping the trickle away with a thumb as she snarled at me, staggering to her feet. Her accomplice twitched as well, wrenching himself out of the metal and stumbling to his feet. I cocked my head, puzzled and angry. I could _see_ the damage I had inflicted, a shard of bone sticking out of the girl's chest and a large impact wound on the boy's, but they were acting like the injuries weren't even there. I experimentally grabbed the back of her head, slamming her down onto the dirt and gravel repeatedly.

The boy roared and attempted to kick me off, but I pinned him down with some shadows as I cracked the female's head against the ground repeatedly, watching as her skull caved, but she still struggled, hands clawing at the ground weakly as I absently watched. Finally, when her forehead was all but crushed, she twitched a few times and slumped, all the fight going out of her. I grinned, lifting her up to see her breathing shallowly, eyes closed as she fell unconscious. That would have to do for now. I dropped her and went to the male, repeating the process and then sitting back, absorbing all the drifting power I had released back into myself.

The mercenaries came, seeing the broken children, backed away slightly. "Um, sir, Mrs. Hellsing said she wanted them alive…" Bernadette said weakly, pointing to the bodies. I sighed, getting to my feet and absorbing all the blood. "I don't know _how_, but they still are." I growled, feeling disappointed. The girl twitched, and they all gasped and murmured. "Damn…" Bernadette muttered, pushing his braid back. "Shove them in a van and get back to the Manor. I have to report to master." I snarled, phasing away.

* * *

"And now, live from the Hollywood bowl, the two most idiotic teens ever to walk the earth!" I hissed, holding my forehead with one bloodied hand. Argen laughed grimly, yanking on the bars. "If this is the Hollywood bowl I'm Mickey Mouse!" he joked, and I grinned. "Well gee Mickey, how are we ever going to get out of here?" I chirped in a dead-on impersonation of Minnie Mouse. We both laughed, eyes watering as we simply let it all out. "Oy! Shut up in there!" Our guard yelled, and we stopped, glaring at the door. "Make us you philistine!" I shouted back, and we continued laughing. He muttered under his breath, but didn't try to go in. They knew better, for some odd reason. "Hey Argen, what do you get when you cross a fat idiot with a jerk?" I said, and he chuckled, knowing the answer. "No clue." He managed to say with a straight face, and we both grinned. "OUR GUARD!" I shrieked, convulsing with laughter as we heard the man's hiss of anger.

Suddenly the door slammed open, and we instantly rolled into a ready position, streaking past a woman in a suit. Suddenly we were slammed back in by Big Red himself, who was scowling as usual. "Dude…" I moaned, holding my nose to stop the blood from gushing out. "You _need_ to stop doing that…" Argen finished, rubbing the back of his head where he had impacted stone. "Who are you?" The woman snapped, and we blinked in unison. "Forgive me for answering a question with a question, but why the hell are you beating us up and shooting us and kidnapping us and holding us hostage in a very cold and damp basement with creaky doors?" I asked, putting up my hand. She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "It's because of the bike, isn't it?" Argen said knowingly, tsking. I nodded gloomily. "Shame, shame. We need to remember to ask next time." I said sadly, and we pouted in silence for half a second as the woman opened her mouth again.

"But then again, there wasn't a scratch on the thing until _you_ did your freaky slicing mojo on it. Technically, we're the wounded party here." Argen said suddenly, and I nodded. "Yeah. Literally, actually. There isn't even a nick on either of you two beauties." I said, looking down at myself sadly. Both of them looked incensed and Argen made a frame out of his hands. "I can see it now, Big Red and Shouty, touring the country and bringing the huddled masses to their collective knees." He said musingly, and we both snorted as they turned red with rage. "SHUT UP!" the vampire roared, and the woman scowled, bringing out a pistol. "You two are acting like you want to be shot."

"It _is_ an addicting experience. Being invulnerable has its perks." Argen said causally, making a "come at me" motion with his hands. She scowled, bringing it back up. "I note you didn't say immortal." We both shrugged in unison. "Meh, we're still aging, sad to say." Argen said, looking down at himself sadly. "And there are a few loopholes that'll at the very least kill us for a long time." I said, inspecting my nails and licking some blood off. "Let's try it this way. My name is Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, and this is Alucard. Now, what are _your_ names?" she said, pointing to Big Red, or as we could call him now, Alucard. We stared at him in silence for a moment. "Bit obvious…" Argen said, rubbing the back of his head. "You've had _years_ to come up with a new one." I added, shaking my head sadly.

Both of them looked confused. "Not even a different language. I mean, we had the sense to change it at least _that_ far." Argen mused, studying Alucard intently. "Names…" Integra growled, and we blinked. "Oh yeah…" Argen muttered, and we both smirked at each other. "Arum." I said, showing them the live long and prosper sign. "Argentum." Argen said, flashing a peace sign at them. She nodded, and Alucard blinked. "Gold and Silver. We're twins." We said in unison, grinning, and he made a sound of realization. "See now _those_ are aliases. Yours sucks." Argen said, rocking on his heels absently. His mouth turned down in a silent snarl of warning. "I mean, doing the mirror trick just doesn't work with such a well-known name." I added sympathetically, tapping the side of my skull. A heavy growl filled the room, and Integra looked askance at Alucard. "Calm down. You two, shut up." She hissed, and we shut up.

The growl faded, and we both nodded in satisfaction. "Are you two hungry?" she asked suddenly, and we looked down at our bodies. "Yeah, but I think we've gone past the point of being able to consume edible substances." I said sadly, sticking my hand in the wound Alucard had made and prodding around a little. Argen snickered. "Speak for yourself, I only got shot!" he said, shoving me playfully. Integra and Alucard both glanced at each other. "Speaking of, what is the extent of your injuries?" she asked coolly, and I shrugged. "Tell vampy to turn around while I check." I said curtly, before yanking my shirt up. "Argen, check my back." I muttered, and he nodded. "Well, it looks like I have a great big hole through the center of my chest that goes right through my heart, a bunch of deep slash marks from the broken glass, and-" I stuck my hand inside my chest again, fingers probing the damage. "-a broken breastbone, as well as a shattered skull on my forehead. Other than that, just bruises and scrapes." I said casually, pulling my shirt back down.

Integra was looking queasy. Perhaps she wasn't used to people who stuck hands inside their own chests. Argen turned around as I checked his back. "Bullet wound through heart and cracked sternum. Shattered skull in the same place." He called out, and I nodded, pulling his shirt back down. "You actually had to check?" she murmured, looking away. I shrugged. "It all kinda blends together after a while to be honest…" I said, twirling a finger around my ear and exchanging a smirk with Argen. Alucard's hand suddenly shot forward, burying itself in my chest as I jerked backward from the impact, looking up at him in confusion. "Dude, get your hand out of my chest. Only my organs and my own hands are allowed to be in there." I said firmly, grabbing his wrist and tugging. It didn't budge.

"It seems the nerves are somehow shut down." He mused, wiggling his fingers a little. It felt weird, to say the least. Here was this stranger who had attempted to kill you several times with his right hand buried up to the wrist in your gaping chest, prodding his fingers around your heart and lungs. The sensation was indescribable to start with, but we'll just say it was weird to have someone's hand wiggling around in your chest. "Yet the damage is still there…" he mused, sticking a finger all the out to my back and prodding my spine experimentally. "Hand. Out. Of. Chest." I growled, grabbing his arm and yanking hard. His hand slid out, covered in blood and tissue, and he scowled, straining against me in warning as I pushed him away. His other hand darted for my forehead, but I grabbed his wrist, holding him away as Integra blinked in shock. She hadn't even seen him move.

He growled, baring his teeth at me, and I shifted to vampire form so I could growl back, baring my own pearly whites at him. He blinked, stopping his huge outward force for a moment, and Integra made a small sound of shock. "Vampire?" she whispered, hand twitching towards her gun. "Humans through and through. Arum, change back, we're scaring the nice people." Argen chuckled, and I grinned wider, teeth shrinking and eyes fading back to brown. "What was that?" she barked, and I shrugged. "Dunno. It's like a glamour, but extends to all senses. Even ours." I said, experimentally edging back, loosening my hold. Alucard backed away as well, looking wary. "Any others you can do?" she asked sharply, exchanging a glance with him again. "Werewolf, but this close to the full moon that isn't a good idea." Argen said, miming a clawing motion with his hands.

They stared at each other for a moment, and I was pretty sure they were using telepathy. "Mmm. Arum, Argentum, how would you like to be a part of Hellsing?" she said suddenly, and we blinked in unison. "Uh…what happens if we say no?" I asked, and she bit her lip, looking uncomfortable. "We find some way to neutralize your powers. People like you two can't be allowed to run wild on the streets." We sat in thought for a second. "Give us a moment." Argen said finally, and we started a tap-conversation. We had our own version of Morse code. "_You okay with this?_" I tapped out on the wooden seat, and he shrugged. "_Don't think we have much of a choice. They'll find out about the vials tonight anyway, unless we have some spares in our pockets?_" he drummed out on the metal railings of his bed, and I shook my head. "_Searched us and took them. We're dead meat come the Tingle._" We both sighed in unison, shaking our heads. "Fine. But as a trust gesture, can we please have two of the vials from our backpacks? Please? They're really important." I said finally, and she blinked, and then chuckled. "How stupid do you think I am? Of course not."

* * *

"Now?" the boy, Argen, asked, rocking a little on the bed as he watched his sister shiver. "No. Still fine. I'm just cold." Arum said, leaning on the barred window. "Do…do you think it'll hurt?" he asked, looking terrified. She sighed, closing her eyes as she pressed her forehead to the cold metal. "Do you want me to lie?" He slowly shook his head, biting his lip. "Hell yes it'll hurt. All of those injuries…it'll hurt a lot. Just be glad _yours_ is a clean one." Arum growled, jabbing a thumb at her chest where the gaping wound I had made still showed. He chuckled a little and she smiled sadly. "I hope it happens at the same time." She said softly, and he nodded. "Yeah. Me too. Still, no regrets?" Arum grinned. "Heaps. First off is allowing you to be born next. I should've gotten stuck and sealed you in." she murmured, and they both laughed.

Suddenly Arum's laughter cut off and she gripped her chest, eyes squeezing shut in pain. Argen bolted to his feet as she crumpled, breathing hard. "Now…" she whispered, then her back arched, and she screamed as blood fountained from her mouth, twisting and shuddering on the ground as red started staining the stone. Her brother gritted his teeth, blood spurting from his back as he choked out a scream, collapsing on the floor beside her. I watched in fascination as they shuddered, blood and bone flying. It was like they were receiving the wounds all over again. Only this time without their pain-numbing or regenerative powers. "God…" Integra murmured, clapping a hand over her mouth. Arum's head twisted up, blood spraying from her mouth as she hissed up "Damn you Hellsing, I know you're watching and if you want us you're going to have to make us drink the-" the rest of her warning was cut off in a screech as she collapsed on the ground, twitching as her skull started caving again.

"Do it." Integra snapped, and I phased down, holding two tiny vials of a thick golden liquid. I paused, wondering which one was worse off. I decided it was Arum and shoved the glass tube in her mouth, watching in fascination as she gripped my wrist with both hands, desperately gulping it down, along with several mouthfuls of her own blood. Even half-alive, she knew she needed to drink, and clung to me like an infant as I held it to her mouth. I felt her grip relax and ripped the vial out, repeating the process with her brother. They lay there, and I realized with a shock both were healed, not even a scratch or a scar on them as they sat up. The glass shattered on the stone floor as both sat up, my grip relaxing and slippery vials clattering out of my hands. "Thanks Red…" Argen murmured, rubbing the back of his head. "We owe you one…" Arum muttered, rotating her wrists.

I grabbed their arms and phased them to Integra, who was staring at them both in confusion. "Explain. And leave _nothing_ out." She snapped, and they sighed. "Okay, here goes. Argen, interrupt me if I forget anything." Arum said, leaning back in her chair as he nodded. "A long time way back when, we were both sick with cancer. Not only that, a few weeks before we were supposedly about to be cured, we were bitten by a sick homicidal vamp, which got a wallop with a silver cross as soon as dad got up to see what was going on. So dad, being the brilliant guy that he was, started finding a way to cure us. That way…" she held up a few shards of the glass vial I had dropped. "Was this. We didn't vamp, didn't die of cancer. In fact, he went a little overboard. I won't hold it against him; he loved us more than life itself. Fitting, considering what happened to him, but I digress. We were now superhuman. Any injury, any wound, would stop almost instantly, in suspended animation until we took another dose. We could hit harder, run faster, learn better."

I exchanged glances with Integra. "But…" I asked slowly, and she nodded. "Yeah. "But". Turns out we had to take the serum every twenty-four hours, or we would…basically have everything pile up at once. Rupture from the inside out, DNA burst apart, it's quite a lot, but basically, we get a tingle in our chest, and if we haven't taken the serum in less than five minutes, we're singing with the angels. How doesn't matter." I growled heavily, and Integra looked at me in shock. "And what was this _special_ science your father practiced in?" I hissed, and Arum exchanged a worried glance with her brother, before closing her eyes and whispering the hated word "Alchemy. He was an alchemist."

"MASTER?" I snarled, slamming the Casull down on the table as Arum and Argen jumped. "Not again…" Arum murmured, shaking her head. "I fail to see how alchemy-" Integra began, and I cut her off with a snarl. "Alchemy is usually forbidden for some reason. We don't know why, and most people react violently when we tell them-" Argen mumbled, and I hissed. "IT'S FOBIDDEN BECAUSE YOU CORRUPT EVERY SUBSTANCE YOU COME IN CONTACT WITH!" I roared, and they flinched. "We do not…" Arum said sullenly, folding her arms and pouting. I heaved in a deep breath, trying to control my anger. I shoved a cigar at them, scowling. "Change it. I don't care to what." Arum and Argen exchanged bemused glances, and then shrugged. Arum reached out for the cigar, grasping it gently. She inhaled, and suddenly her eyes rolled up in her head, cigar glowing a dull yellow. She exhaled sharply, letting go, and I picked up the now heavy, metal cigar, inspecting it for the tell-tale signs of corruption.

I frowned, looking closer. Nothing. It seemed to be pure, unadulterated gold. I broke it in half, cocking my head. Gold. All the way through. _How…_ "See, we don't _corrupt_ things." Arum said stiffly, grabbing the halves and pressing them together, revealing a seamless cigar, before licking her lips and making the glow start again, changing it back. She handed it to Integra, who examined it mutely, breaking it in half, but seeing it was again a cigar. "What do normal alchemists do?" Integra asked sharply, glancing at us. Arum and Argen shrugged. "We were bedridden for most of our young lives, and then we were super-humans. Normality escaped us at times." Argen said sourly, leaning back in his chair. "Sorry, ask him." Arum added, pointing to me.

"True alchemists corrupt a substance, altering it to their will and energies before changing it to a base substance. Other than that, I am as unaware as these two. But alchemists are notoriously greedy for money and power." They both, unexpectedly, laughed. "Those were idiots!" Argen chuckled, shaking his head. "I think we can clue you in further. See, most alchemists who revealed, well, being alchemists, were novices who couldn't handle knowing all of the craft. Those of us who were adept in the craft are usually quite generous, since we can make as much damned money as we want." She grabbed the chair she was sitting on, closing her eyes. It flared a dull yellow, just like the cigar, and she let go of an antique gold chair. "See, we give it the chemical composition of something very, very old. Since we are required to have a thorough grounding of ancient and modern art, the rest isn't too hard." She said causally, standing up as Integra ran a hand over the cold metal.

"You only change things to gold?" she asked slowly, and Arum winced. "Side effect. Our actual alchemist powers are very limited for some reason. Don't miss it all that much, truth be told. You know…" she gave a little laugh, holding up her hand in a live long and prosper sign. "Gold and Silver." I raised my eyebrows. "That's how you got pure silver bullets. Bless them yourself?" I said, and they smirked. "That's Argen. I do gold, he does silver. Our names, after all." She said, and he nodded. "Bites, doesn't it vamp?" I gritted my teeth, nodding.

They both smirked in a smug fashion, high fiving each other without looking. "Do you have any living or undead relations?" Integra asked, and they shook their heads. "Any larger organization looking out for you or paying you?" Another identical head shake. "How would you like to work for us?" she said abruptly, and they blinked.

"Uh…" Argen said, glancing at his sister. She bit her lip, and imperceptibly their fingers began tapping out soft rhythms that I was sure was some kind of code. "Right then. Yes, we would like to be employed by Hellsing as long as you guys aren't trying to kill and or hurt us." Arum said suddenly, and they looked back up at us. Integra smirked in satisfaction. "Excellent. However, since I have no idea of what your skills are when you are _not_ using them against us, I would like you to have a field trial." They grinned, standing up and pausing expectantly.

* * *

"Right then. Kill all "vamps" and save the human targets. We have Alucard and Seras somewhere inside the maze, and if you get a kill shot for him its double points. Her you just have to knock out or something, she isn't as…durable." Pip said, watching the two new recruits strap pistols all over their bodies. "Vamp targets?" Argen asked, halving his gun and loading it. "No idea. I think they're some freaky trick by Alucard…" Pip muttered, shuddering as the twins exchanged dubious glances. "Anything else we need to know?" Arum murmured, sticking a mic in her ear, turning it on as her brother winced and adjusted his. "Nope. Good luck." He said, and they saluted him sarcastically and walked in the maze.

"So, Argen, wanna bet?" Arum's voice crackled, and Integra and Walter, back up in the control room, exchanged bemused glances. "You're on. May the best man win." Argen chuckled, and she grinned as the camera's tracked their movements. "So the bride and the maids are going to be left out? HELL NO!" she taunted, suddenly splitting away from him and darting deeper into the maze as he scowled after her. "YOU CAN'T RUN FROM SOMEONE WHO HAS A MIC CONNECTION WITH YOU!" he yelled after her, streaking in the opposite direction. "That's unexpected. We thought they would stay together as they had done so far." Walter murmured, frowning slightly. "When it comes to these two…" Integra said, glasses reflecting Arum's grinning face. "Expect the unexpected."

Argen was first to reach an enemy, a mass of shambling ghouls. "Hey sis!" he shouted through the microphone as he began wading into them. "I'm winning!" he grinned, bullets tearing neatly through the exact center of the ghouls' foreheads. "They're…having a contest?!" Walter sputtered, and Integra nodded. "It would appear so." Arum chuckled, reaching a ghoul horde of her own, along with some of Alucard's familiars. "I beg to differ little bro. For instance, how many vamps have you knocked off?" Argen swore into the headset as Arum cheerfully blasted her way through the zombie-like mass, guns blazing. The last fell behind her with a wet thud, blood seeping across the floor as she whistled and continued further, loading more bullets into her smoking pistol.

Argen however, had run into a spot of trouble. A vampire copy had him on the floor, both hands pinned away from his head. "SIS! I have a First Alice situation over here, move it!" he shouted into the mic, and she immediately turned, streaking back the way she had come. "First Alice?" Integra repeated, confused. "Sure, ever hear of Vocaloid?" Arum said over the mic, making them both start. "No…" Integra replied slowly, and Arum shook her head sadly, vaulting off a wall and continuing her run. "Well it's a code we use from one of their songs. _The First Alice strayed too far and too deep in the woods, it marked her as a sinner, and locked her in there for good, much like the gruesome path that marked her murdering way, her life remains a mystery until this very day. _First or Red Alice situation is when we're in over our heads with just one person, or a very large group of unidentified and unknown enemies. There are four more Alices."

"RED FREAKING ALICE ALREADY! C'MON ARUM MOVE IT!" Argen bellowed, barely keeping the vampire's snapping fangs away from his face. Suddenly it was batted away, Arum's grinning form landing lightly on her brother's other side. "I heard you loud and clear. My kill little bro." she taunted, tossing her hair back and sheathing her new sword that she had morphed from a dagger at her waist. "Yeah, yeah, rub it in my face." He grumbled, sitting up and picking his gun off the floor. She bowed once before streaking back the way she had come, chuckling. He grinned however, when he came to another room full to the brim with vampires and ghouls. "Yo sis, I got a whole crowd here to welcome me. How're you doing?"

Arum didn't answer, busy slashing and shooting her way through a mob of ghouls that had backed her into a wall. "I'm…doing…just…fine!" she shouted, reloading rapidly and returning to keeping the crowd at bay. Her eyes flicked upwards as her ammo ran out, and she grinned. "Die ghouls!" she shouted, splaying her hand in the air and bringing it down. A few loose tiles on the ceiling shifted, glowing a steady gold before dropping rapidly, slamming into the ghouls and smashing them flatter than pancakes, sending a spray of blood right up into Arum's face. She chuckled softly, wiping it off and continuing down the hall. "So she can manipulate the element at will…" Integra murmured, lighting a cigar and inhaling deeply. Argen swore, having run into much the same problem as he ninja-leaped off the walls, running from three puppet-vamps controlled by Alucard.

He held both hands out behind him, before slamming them together, and the walls bulged behind him, before smashing into each other and pulverizing the vampires with a compress of silver. "I'm winning!" he sang into the microphones, and Arum scoffed. "I doubt it…Integra, which of us has killed more yet?" Walter checked the readouts, then silently showed her. "Currently Arum is three ahead with vampires and twelve ahead with ghouls." Integra said neutrally, and Argen swore in frustration. "Frick…FOURTH ALICE! FOURTH ALICE!" Arum screeched through the mic, and Argen gulped, running to her aid. "Hang on big sis! Where are you?" he asked, panting a little as he ran faster. "Does anyone want to explain just what a Fourth Alice is?" Integra muttered grumpily, and Argen answered absently "Like First or Red Alice. It's a code we use. Uh, I actually kinda forgot what the original lines were…oh yeah. _Were closest to see the nature of the true Alice at hand…but both will never wake up from the dream that they had planned, forever they shall wander hopelessly in Wonderland!_ Basically we just got ourselves in a trap, and it's a very good one that needs both our help."

Integra made an "oh" sound, and watched in silence. If that was what Fourth Alice meant, it certainly was. Arum was pinned under a fallen crate, and a shambling ghoul horde was getting closer. When the footage was replayed, she hadn't been looking behind her when she jumped to avoid a vampire's swipe, and crashed down into this mock-warehouse. The crates had followed and trapped her with no proximity to her weapons, although she had managed to "kill" the vampire. Her mic picked up a constant murmur of "Fourth Alice Fourth Alice Fourth Alice Fourth freaking Alice…"Argen almost fell into the same trap, but swayed, barely managing to stay on his feet, before making a controlled descent. He wrenched the crates off her and she stumbled upright, quickly slaying all the ghouls before they could be added to her brother's count.

"Oh c'mon!" he snarled, stamping his foot as she saluted him sarcastically and streaked off, cackling. She giggled, bounding off the walls and running along the ceiling rapidly as she fled another vamp puppet. "Eat silver!" she shouted, flipping and somehow sending daggers, slivers really, of silver at the vamp target, which screeched and dissolved. She skidded on the ground, staggering upright and running straight into Alucard's chest. "Frick." Was all she could say before he grinned and aimed the Casull straight for her head, pulling the trigger. There was a bang, and then Integra and Walter gaped. Arum was lying on the ground, arms crossed above her, and the bullet was spinning lazily in midair, still smoking. She grinned up at him waveringly. "Silver buddy. My brother can control it." she chuckled, and he glanced down the hall to see Argen with both hands outstretched, panting heavily.

"Hmm." That was all _he_ said before quickly switching to a physical attack and aiming a punch at Arum, who was no longer beneath him. Her feet crashed into his chin, sending him skidding a few feet back. "You can't run this time." He chuckled, standing and leering at them as he wiped a trickle of blood off his chin and licked it off his fingers. "Yeah, we're kinda bummed about that." Arum said, accepting a knife from her brother. "So then, humans…ATTACK ME!" he shouted, shadows writhing off his body and streaking towards them. "Argen!" Arum barked, and he threw up his hands, an airtight seal of silver shooting up from the ground and blocking the hallway. Alucard grimaced as his shadows weakly prodded it, quickly withdrawing.

On the other side, Argen frowned at the wall. "I'm honestly surprised he hasn't broken it down." He admitted, tapping it gently. "We gotta even the odds." Arum panted, pushing her thick black curls back. "If we-" Argen made a slicing motion across his throat "-NOW, that might be just as bad as…you know…" Arum grinned, skin paling and teeth lengthening. Her eyes brightened to a rich, vibrant red, and Argen sighed, copying her. The silver wall came down, and they launched themselves at Alucard, who was slightly taken aback by their species change. Arum wrenched the Casull out of his hands, and they both grabbed his other arm, slamming him into the ground and biting down on his limbs hard. His convulsed, grinning as they severed the tendons in his wrists, and then they sat back, mouths bloody. They went for him again, crunching into his neck and biting down hard.

He grabbed the back of their necks, wrenching them off and sitting up, giving them an approving nod before phasing away. Arum spat blood out of her mouth as Argen hacked, scrubbing at his tongue with both hands. "You taste nasty!" Arum yelled after him, wherever he had gotten to, spitting once more before standing up. "Note to self, don't vamp out when I have the munchies. I think I swallowed some of him…" Argen groaned, holding his stomach and burping. Arum made a face, and they both chuckled a little as they continued on. "Now what…there's nothing left…" Arum muttered, eyes flashing to red, then back to a warm chocolate brown. "Yeah…I took out Mrs. Victoria on the way here…" Argen murmured, scratching his head.

"Congratulations, Arum and Argen. You are now members of Hellsing." Integra's voice said over the speakers, and they grinned. "All right!" Argen shouted, bumping fists with his sister and then exchanging a high five. "Yes!" Arum yelled, jumping up with a fist pump. "Seras will show you to your rooms." Integra's voice said, and they exchanged glances. "Rooms…as in plural?" Arum asked, eyes glinting with worry. "We got this…" Argen whispered, looking just as concerned.

* * *

"Thanks." I said, shouldering my weapon's case as Seras opened the door to my room, which was small, white, and standard. There was one narrow bed, a desk, a window, and a wardrobe. It was barely big enough for me and my weapons case, and there was a narrow closet-like door that I prayed led to my bathroom. There was a single overhead light, a dome fitting into the arch of the plain white ceiling. "Well…make yourself at home!" she said, seeing my look of shock and quickly closing the door. I nodded, tossing the case on the ground and opening the second door. Yup. A bathroom. A tiny, tiny shower, barely big enough for me to stand in, and a toilet with a sink inlaid in the back. Obviously space was short at hand here.

A snap of my fingers and the weapons all flew out, tacks embedding themselves in the wall and blades and guns settling into place. They had trace amounts of gold in the hilts, so it was easy to move them around. The rest was all Argen's silver. Speaking off…I rested my forehead against the wall, feeling isolated. We had never had separate rooms since…ever. Even when we were sick it was too much hassle to put us in a separate room. Later it had been necessary to bunker down together. It had become a habit as we got older, and now it was just out of place not sharing the same living space with him. Even becoming…well, _female_ had only meant we were more careful about how we moved around and looked in the mornings, or evenings. Oh well.

I popped out the door, card deck in hand. Argen leaned out of the door right beside mine, and we both brightened. "A duel big sis. You'll regret beating my score in the arena." he said, grinning, and I snorted. "You're on. I even brought the cards." I said, holding up the deck as he chuckled. We both walked out, seeing a large table with no one at it for the moment. We sat down, and I spread the cards with a snap of my fingers. Like most of our possessions, they had trace amounts of gold and silver so we could manipulate them at will. "Go fish?" I asked, shuffling them with another finger snap. He grinned. "Oh please. Poker and you better hope you got a good excuse to turn up with no weapons on our next mission." I grinned, splaying my hand and the cards in one swift motion. "I need a computer for entertainment after all. Get ready for a trip little bro."

* * *

The teens opened their eyes in unison as Pip and the others all tromped out. They both yawned and stretched, then followed, wiping sleep from their eyes, huge backpacks on their backs as usual. "Right then, zis is an easy mission for our newbies, or at least, we would like as much ladies. No, zis is a hard-core ghoul-infested hellhole, and I won't lie, not much of us are going to see the light of day again. So let's go down screaming." Pip said, shouldering his rifle as the twins raised their eyebrows. "Excuse me?" Arum asked, raising her hand. "What?" Pip asked irritably, putting a hand on his hip. "Can we cheat?" She asked meekly, pointing to her brother, who sheepishly grinned. There was a moment of dead silence, and all the older men groaned. "As long as you take down every last undead here, I don't care what you do." Pip snapped, turning away. There was a giggle and two wolves shot past him, howling with laughter.

_Arum's POV:_

"AWOOOOOOO!" I howled gleefully, signaling the moon that it had two new worshipers. Also to alert the vampires that some new predators were joining the food chain. Argen woofed happily, tongue hanging out of his mouth as he pounded alongside me, all four legs in perfect synchronization with mine. We heard the gasps of the Wild Geese behind us, and I barked joyfully, tossing my head as I leaped over a car. My wolf ears twitched, and I skidded to a halt, smelling ghoul. Argen stopped as well, hackles up and ears slanted forward as we approached the mass, growling. "AWOOOOOOOOOO!" We both howled in unison, pouncing as my jaws met rotting flesh and I tore at it viciously, decapitating the ghoul with a flick of my head and bowling the next one over. Crunches and snarls filled the air as the werewolf transformation set in, the rising moon spurring us on. I raised my bloody muzzle, seeing the Wild Geese standing a few hundred yards away, looking stunned, and briefly switched back to human.

"YOU ACT LIKE YOU HAVEN'T SEEN ANYONE EAT A GHOUL BEFORE!" I shouted at them, cupping my hands around my mouth to send the sound further and then switched back to wolf, howling mockingly at them before bounding away after Argen. We continued this animalistic rampage, ghoul blood smearing my face and singing tartly in my mouth as I swilled some spit around and hacked it all up, making a face, at least as much as I could in wolf form. We finally got to a challenge, the first vampire of the night. We made no pretense about it, advancing with our hackles up, jaws wide so he could see our blood-stained fangs. He whined in fear, backing away until his back hit a wall. "N-nice doggies…" he whispered, smiling at us hesitantly. We exchanged a disgusted look and pounced, ripping him apart with claws and teeth as he screamed a few times before falling to flaky ash in my mouth.

I switched to human, spitting and scraping at my tongue to try and escape the vile, gritty feeling in my mouth. I grabbed my water bottle, swilling it around and spitting once more, making a face as the sour, sandy feeling finally disappeared. The dark grey wolf at my side looked up at me in amusement. _Forgot to let go before he poofed, didn't ya?_ Argen teased, and I stuck my tongue out at him, shifting to a pitch black wolf. _Shut up._ I snapped, pounding away as he chuckled in my head, following. Suddenly there was a tingle in my stomach, and Argen stopped, shifting back to human as his earpiece buzzed. I copied him, listening in. "_GODAMNIT! WE NEED ALUCARD, WE'VE BEEN PINNED DOWN BY THE LAKE AND WE ARE IN DEEP SHI-_" It cut off, and I scowled, transforming back to a wolf. "AWOOOOOOOO!" A rage-filled howl echoed up to the moon, and I surged away, muscles flexing under fur and breath wheezing in my throat. Argen followed silently, a lighter grey shadow beside my inky blackness.

* * *

Pip and his men were stuck between a rock and a hard place. A rock being a huge cliff at their backs, and a hard place being a gigantic mass of ghouls and scattered FREAKs. Their earpieces buzzed, and Arum's voice came through. "_Hey guys, can you try to move away from the cliff a little bit more? Our aim needs to be perfect._" They gaped a little, and Pip finally recovered his wits enough to bellow "IF WE COULD DO YOU THINK WE WOULD HAVE ASKED FOR HELP?!" She chuckled, and a long, drawn-out howl sounded through the air. "_Well then, I hope Argen can push it closer. He's a bit worn out from transforming it though…oh well. When you see a giant werewolf running towards you, drop and roll. In a different direction, preferably outward, from where you were standing. Bye!_" her voice clicked out as another howl was sounded, and Argen bounded through the ghouls, sending body parts flying.

He suddenly cleared the mass, landing just behind the Wild Geese and jumped again, forehead impacting a heavy boulder that had been falling through the air, a solid thump echoing in the air as it flew over the terrified humans' heads, flattening most of the ghouls and even a vampire or two. "_Everyone intact and not squished?_" she asked, and Pip did a head count. "Yes. But what the hell!? You drop a giant boulder on us and HOPE we aren't flattened?!" She laughed, and Argen snickered, scratching at his ear nonchalantly. "_Aw, I know Argen would've knocked it away. And it's a giant SILVER boulder, not just a normal one. Here I come._" Pip and the others blanched, seeing that the hulking rock was indeed shining silver. "_Mon diue_…but how are you getting down here?" he asked, and she snickered. "_How else? Werewolves seem to be very bouncy. Look up._" They did so in a daze, seeing a dark shape plummet from the cliff, impacting the ground with a heavy thud and crunch of snapping bone.

They all winced, but gaped as she shook herself, sitting up as bones began snapping into place. "_See? I do love this form's regenerative powers. Is the mic working okay, I think a wire's coming loose._" Pip and the others shook their heads dumbly. She grinned, fangs stained with a sticky black substance that looked disturbingly like ghoul blood. "_Must be me then. Comes of trying to use something on my human body when I'm in an inhuman form I guess. Now then…Argen, ready for some fun?_" Her brother barked, tail waving excitedly as she bounded up to him, and they exchanged in a familiar nuzzle as the ghouls once again staggered upright, dragging their rotting body around the giant silver rock. Arum and Argen immediately broke off their greetings, striding over to the Wild geese and locking their legs, hackles up and teeth bared in a warning growl. The vampire masters paused, daunted by the sight of two authentic werewolves, but gave the mental order to advance anyway.

Arum snarled, and they slowed, but still came as Argen woofed in exasperation and slid his claws out, his sister mimicking him. "AWOOOOOOOOO!" they howled in unison, launching themselves forward and charging the ghouls, splitting up to further effect the enemy. The common wolf had one of the strongest bite forces of mammalian predators, and werewolves had triple that. Arum's jaw cracked down hard on a ghoul's skull as she brought it down, shattering the bone like an eggshell as she let go and pounced on another one, claws digging into the creature's shoulders before she bit down, severing the head from the shoulders and leaping to take down her next foe. Argen preferred to take his time, raking his claws across the ghouls several times before swiping the spine out, cutting all connection with the body and causing it to collapse into dust. Several of the humans swore and almost all had turned pale. These were not the lively and amusing teenagers the Geese had briefly come to know in the past week. These were bloodthirsty animals that thought of nothing but their next kill.

Arum snarled as a bullet from one of the armed vampires impacted her side, powerful muscles bunching as she tackled him, jaws snapping at his throat as he started to scream. The childishly high wails cut off, and she lifted her head, dark blood dripping from her muzzle as she gave a keening howl, saluting the moon before jumping off the ashes and attacking another ghoul. The Wild Geese didn't dare shoot, partly for the practical reason of the twins moved so fast they couldn't aim without fearing to hit one, and partly for the not-so practical reason of they were scared to draw the ravenous beasts' attention. Arum cried out as bullets peppered her body, and her brother surged to her aid, wet crunches and snaps filling the air. She shuddered a few times, then suddenly shank, coming up on her hind legs as her fur wavering and vanished, looking pale and sick. Argen whined, nuzzling her waist as she coughed, shaking her head rapidly. Some of the less reckless vampires and their ghouls still stood, and she touched a hand to the earpiece. "_Sorry guys, I took too much silver, I can't use the werewolf mode anymore. We're going to change back and start doing it like humans, so you better give us some cover fire._" She said into it, too far away to shout the words to the humans at the base of the cliff.

Argen shuddered, coming up on his hind legs as his fur melted away, body shaping to a human form once more. They both drew pistols in each hand, staring down the vampires as they nervously gave the order to advance once more. Arum didn't give a single warning. She just blazed into action, running silently and swiftly at the ghouls as she started firing, each crack from her pistols downing another ghoul. Argen jumped onto the silver boulder, rapidly giving her cover fire as she reloaded, then stopped as she blazed into action once more. It was a neat, almost telepathic partnership, each twin finishing their reloading at the same split second the other ran out of bullets, switching off without a single hitch. They did not show excitement, this was not a pleasure cruise for them. It was an extermination, plain and simple, and their faces were set, showing no expression as they took down undead body after undead body.


End file.
